Tampa Megachurch Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne Defiant After Arrest

The Florida pastor who got hauled in by cops for hosting a megachurch service despite quarantine and stay-at-home orders is doubling down … insisting he did NOTHING wrong.

The Tampa-area minister is Rodney Howard-Browne, and he took to his own podcast/telecast shortly after being released Monday night to explain why he did what he did — namely, put hundreds of people’s lives at risk by hosting the service.

RHB has a lot to say, but the gist is that he was simply exercising his First Amendment right — i.e., freedom of religion and separation of church and state. His logic is bizarre. Watch.

There’s more though … Rodney goes IN on the media, sounding very Trump-like by suggesting a lot of outlets are hyping the threat of coronavirus and fear-mongering to get everyone scared and panicked. BTW … more than 800 people in the U.S. died Tuesday.

One interesting note … it sounds like Rodney here thinks the charges he was brought in on — which he incorrectly calls First Amendment violations — will be resolved shortly.

He says he’s willing to do interviews, but only once his lawyers and theirs (the county/state’s) have a chat and put this matter to bed. He also talks TMZ a bit. 👀