Hillsborough (Florida) pastor facing arrest for holding church services despite COVID-19 orders
(Miami Herald) A Hillsborough County pastor is facing arrest after he intentionally and repeatedly violated orders that no gatherings of 10 or more people he held in order to stop of the spread of COVID-19, Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister announced Monday afternoon.
The sheriff’s office received an anonymous tip on Friday that Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne, the Pentecostal pastor at the River at Tampa Bay Church in Riverview, refused to stop holding mass gatherings and instead was encouraging people to come to services.
Sheriff’s office personnel and legal staff spoke with the church’s legal team in an attempt to educate them about the orders they were violating on Friday and Sunday. Members of the sheriff’s office command staff also tried to meet to with Howard-Browne over the weekend but he did not make himself available.
“His reckless disregard for human life put hundreds of people in his congregation at risk and thousands of residents who may interact with them in danger,” Chronister said.
The warrant charges the pastor with unlawful assembly and violation of public safety rules, both misdemeanors, according to Chronister.
The church has the technology in place already to stream services to it’s more than 4,000 members. Instead, the church, held two jam-packed services on Sunday.
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/coronavirus/article241623496.html?utm_source=pushly&intcid=pushly_501509
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