Florida County Honors Extremist Anti-Vax Pastor

Creative Loafing Tampa reports:

This morning, a Tampa pastor with a well-documented history of spreading dangerous conspiracy theories— like mass shootings are false flags and the COVID-19 pandemic was planned by Bill Gates—was awarded a commendation by the Hillsborough County Board of Commissioners for his community service.

Kicking off Wednesday’s regular meeting, District 5 Commissioner Donna Cameron Cepeda presented the commendation to Rodney Howard-Browne, and his wife Adonica, of The River Tampa Bay Church.

Besides writing a book on the so-called “plandemic,” Howard-Browne has previously stated that climate change isn’t real and chemtrails and weather manipulation are used to destroy our crops. He’s also claimed to have “cleansed Florida of Zika,” and that Satanists who perform human sacrifices and drink blood, are currently running the country.

Read the full article. There’s much more.

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Howard-Browne first appeared on JMG in 2014 when he declared that Obama was building “gas chambers and concentration camps.” In 2017, he claimed that the CIA trains ISIS at “49 secret US bases” and ships them around the world.

In 2018, he issued a “restraining order against the antichrist” to stop globalism. Also in 2018, he warned that “half of Congress performs human sacrifice and drinks blood.”

In the early months of the pandemic, Howard-Browne held services in defiance of local lockdown rules, repeatedly telling his congregation that the COVID vaccine “will kill you.” In 2020, he claimed that his church owned “13 machines to shoot down the virus.”

When a national toilet paper shortage was rumored during the early months of the pandemic, Howard-Browne declared that if you love Jesus, he will “supernaturally multiply your toilet paper.”

Howard-Browne is perhaps most known for being among the evangelicals who “laid hands” on Trump in an infamous Oval Office meeting.

Hillsborough County commissioners award commendation to ‘plandemic’ MAGA pastorhttps://t.co/0wj8JhvTsS

— Creative Loafing: Tampa Bay (@cl_tampabay) May 17, 2023