Florida Pastor Arrested and Charged After Holding Packed Sunday Service, Ignoring Social Distancing Rules

A pastor in Tampa, Florida, held a packed service Sunday where he claimed to have the cure for the coronavirus.

Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne of The River Church refused to close the doors to his megachurch and was vocal about it at Sunday’s service full of worshippers who stood shoulder to shoulder.

“We are not stopping anything. I’ve got news for you; this church will never close. The only time the church will close is when the Rapture is taking place,” He said at last week’s service.

On Sunday, he boasted about how clean the church was and revealed his bizarre method of killing the virus.

“We brought in 13 machines that basically kill every virus in the place, and if somebody walks through the door it’s like, it kills everything on them. If they sneeze, it shoots it down at like 100 mph. It’ll neutralize it in split seconds. We have the most sterile building in; I don’t know, all of America,” he said.

And while many may think it’s illegal to continue having large gatherings, the pastor said he’s protected by the law.

“I know they’re trying to beat me up for having the church operational, but we are not a non-essential service,” Howard-Browne said. “And, just so you know, we are totally covered by the law. And people say, ‘what law are you covered by?’ And I say the First Amendment to the Constitution.”

But according to TMZ, there’s now a warrant out for Howard-Browne’s arrest for unlawful assembly.