St. Louis official put on leave after deadly failure

Sarah Russell, the Emergency Management Commissioner in St. Louis, has been placed on paid administrative leave after a massive tornado ripped through the area.

The tornado left a path of devastation almost 23 miles long, and five people were killed as the city’s tornado sirens remained silent — an early warning may have saved lives.

“Let me be clear: CEMA exists to alert the community when severe weather is coming. This office failed to do that in the most horrific and deadly storm that our city has experienced in my lifetime,” St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer said at a press conference this week.

The mayor announced an investigation into the actions of Russell’s office on the day of the deadly tornado, stating in a release that CEMA staff, including Russell, were at a workshop on the day of the anticipated storms and not at the CEMA office where the siren activation button is located — Russell reportedly contacted the fire department to activate the sirens, but “unclear communication” resulted in no alarm being sounded.

To the surprise of no one, the popular Libs of TikTok shared on X that Russell goes by “they/them” pronouns:

BREAKING: CEMA Commissioner Sarah Russell, who goes by “They/Them” pronouns, is on paid leave after she failed to activate the St. Louis tornado sirens for the deadly storm.

Five people are now dead. pic.twitter.com/SjHs64dRTc

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) May 22, 2025

Making matters worse, Russell explained at a presser that in addition to their office space being small, they typically “work closer to business hours.”

St. Louis CEMA Commissioner says her team would have been in the office to activate the tornado siren, but the space is kinda small and they tend to stick to more normal business hours…

Five people died.

Fingers crossed the next tornado hits between 9-5 pic.twitter.com/613c9j4R3c

— Kevin Dalton (@TheKevinDalton) May 22, 2025

Sadly, if there is any accountability here it will only go so far. If there is accountability, don’t expect it to be comparable to the lives of five people who are no longer with us.

Here’s a quick sampling of responses to the story, as seen on X:

Receipt. It seems they tried to scrub the Internet.

And by “they” I mean, the city, not the Sarah. pic.twitter.com/GgNmZLH1vb

— Viva Frei (@thevivafrei) May 22, 2025

For those struggling to understand;
When a person is given an important job BECAUSE of their gender identity, race, minority status, etc., rather than merit, disastrous consequences are guaranteed.
D.E.I. = Didn’t Earn It

— MisElaineous (@miselaineous13) May 22, 2025

She was at a training workshop to identify how weather events disproportionately impact gender non-binary folx and how FEMA can aid in recovering pronouns after a natural disaster.

— And Don’t Call Me Shirley. (@Meme_Behavior) May 22, 2025

When identity becomes the hiring qualification, competence dies.
Five people are dead because “inclusion” mattered more than performance.
This isn’t progress… This is an absolute tragedy!

— Crushing Woke Culture (@CrushWokeAgenda) May 22, 2025

Why is she/he/they/them on PAID leave?
This human blob was paid to activate the tornado sirens.
That was its job.
It was PAID to do THAT job
It didn’t do it.
So now we’re paying it NOT to do the job that it should have done.
The irony is through the roof.

— Ireene Almayda (@IreeneAlmayda) May 23, 2025

Senior Staff Writer
[email protected]

The longest-tenured writer at BizPac Review, Tom grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills.

Latest posts by Tom Tillison (see all)

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.