On the afternoon of June 26th, 1930, W. A. Lipscomb and his companion, a man known only as Ezekial, arrived in Beckley, West Virginia, dressed in long, frock-tailed coats and sporting white turbans. These two men then started to preach on the sidewalks of the city, drawing a large crowd of residents of the African-American section of Beckley, completely blocking traffic.
It was this traffic jam that attracted the attention of the Beckley police. Police Chief Moran arrived with some of his officers and promptly arrested the two oddly dressed street preachers. This apparently didn’t go over so well, as the two were arrested for profanity and disturbing the peace, as well as vagrancy and blocking traffic. They were taken to the Beckley jail for safekeeping.
As the policemen took Ezekial and Lipscomb to be locked up, the crowd followed them down to the jail, all the while begging the police chief to let them go. They remained outside the police station for the next several hours, continuing to ask for the release of the two street preachers.
Finally Chief Moran relented and let the two men go, under the condition that they leave Beckley and never return. Members of the crowd loaded Ezekial and Mr. Lipscomb into a truck and the two left the city for parts unknown, ready to preach the gospel in their frock-tailed coats and white turbans.
