Tampa evangelical pastor Rodney Howard-Browne was arrested for violating Hillsborough County lockdown orders at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Credit: Photo via Rodney Howard-Browne/Instagram

Tampa evangelical pastor Rodney Howard-Browne was arrested for violating Hillsborough County lockdown orders at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Credit: Photo via Rodney Howard-Browne/Instagram

Rodney Howard-Browne—a conservative preacher, peddler of absolute insane conspiracy theories, and an evangelical leader who prayed over Trump in the Oval Office—claims that he cleansed Florida of Zika and says he now plans to do the same with the coronavirus.

In a video first noticed by Right Wing Watch, Howard-Browne says that he “cursed” Zika in the name of Jesus, and this is something he has the power to do in regards to the coronavirus, but just for Florida and nowhere else on Earth. 

“We are doing the same thing with the coronavirus,” says Howard-Browne.” We do not need it on these shores, and somebody said ‘Well, what about the rest of the world?’ I mean, I can’t be responsible for every city, or whatever.” 

The video was first posted to the pastor’s Periscope account on Feb. 24.

This isn’t the first time Howard-Brown, who says his congregation at The River Tampa Bay Church is “supernatural,” has claimed to have saved mankind. At a revival event in Washington D.C. in July of 2018, Howard-Brown said he “saved” America by issuing a “restraining order on the Antichrist.” 

He also made headlines in 2017 when he posted signs at his church saying the congregation is heavily-armed. 

But Howard-Brown is also known for saying things like the Vegas shooting of 2017 that killed 58 people was a false flag operation, chemtrails and weather manipulation are real, and the people that rule the planet are Satanists who perform human sacrifices and drink blood. 

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This article appears in Feb 20-27, 2020.

Colin Wolf has been working with weekly newspapers since 2007 and has been the Digital Editor for Creative Loafing Tampa since 2019. He is also the Director of Digital Content Strategy for CL's parent...