Rodney Howard-Browne (L) and Chad Chronister. Credit: Screengrab via Rodney Howard-Browne/Twitter

The day after president-elect Donald Trump selected Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister to head the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the twice-elected sheriff accepted the endorsement of a far-right conspiracy theorist he once arrested for violating pandemic shutdown orders.

Last Sunday, Chronister joined an online broadcast to accept an endorsement from Rodney Howard-Browne, the head of The River Tampa Bay evangelical megachurch, and a noted “favorite pastor” of former InfoWars host Alex Jones.

“I’ve always appreciated that you know I’m a ‘follow the law’ sheriff,'” said Chronister to Howard-Browne. “I was following the law back then. Lousy laws, good laws, you have to be the sheriff and do your job, and you always understood that. I’m proud that Florida was the first to roll back all those COVID restrictions and it certainly was a very happy day when I was able to call the state attorney and say, ‘Drop those charges’ against you. You’ve been a true friend and I’m so grateful and blessed by the friendship and love that we share, that you for your support.”

During the brief video, Chronister also promised to “knock on the doors” of cartels and organizations that are distributing “poison” on day one of his new role.

Chronister’s nomination as administrator of the DEA still needs to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate, and wouldn’t happen until after Trump is sworn in on Jan. 20.

As I promised earlier, Here I am with my friend Sheriff @ChadChronister I recorded this tonight before our evening service! Please share with everyone – Thank you and God Bless! pic.twitter.com/H9b3eQVRv6
— Rodney Howard-Browne (@rhowardbrowne) December 2, 2024

Trump announced his selection of Chronister last Saturday night on the Truth Social platform, writing that Chronister had “received countless awards for keeping his community SAFE.”

“As DEA Administrator, Chad will work with our great Attorney General, Pam Bondi, to secure the Border, stop the flow of Fentanyl, and other Illegal Drugs, across the Southern Border, and SAVE LIVES,” said Trump.

But his recent endorsement from Howard-Browne comes after the Republican sheriff has been the focus of outrage from far-right pundits and lawmakers, calling him a “woke” pick because of former donations to Democrats, and continued participation and support of LGBTQ+ events and Pride Parades.

Arguably MAGA World’s biggest gripe with Chronister is the March, 2020 arrest of Howard-Browne for defying local shutdown orders and holding indoor services during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chronister’s arrest order for Howard-Browne included charges of unlawful assembly and violation of public health emergency rules, both second-degree misdemeanors.

At the time, the agency justified the arrest by saying Howard-Browne “intentionally and repeatedly hosted church services with hundreds of members in attendance, despite knowing he was in violation of orders set in place by the President, the Governor of Florida, the CDC and the Hillsborough County Emergency Policy Group.”

“Our goal is not to stop people from worshiping,” said Chronister, “but the safety and well-being of our community must always come first.”

Two months later, the charges were dropped, after Chronister made amends with the pastor and met him for for lunch at his home in Hernando County.

Besides his pandemic arrest and appearing on InfoWars, Howard-Browne has been at the center of quite a few extremely far-right conspiracy theories. Most notably, the pastor wrote a book on the so-called “plandemic,” and repeatedly claimed without evidence, that the COVID-19 pandemic was planned by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Howard-Browne has also previously stated that climate change isn’t real and that ruling forces are using chemtrails and weather manipulation to destroy our food reserves. He has also claimed to have “cleansed Florida of Zika,” and that Satanists who perform human sacrifices and drink blood, are currently running the country.

Howard-Browne is also a noted mass shooting truther, and has said that the Las Vegas shooting of 2017 that killed 58 people was a false flag operation, as was 2019’s Christchurch shooting in New Zealand.

Besides occasionally hosting guests like Chronister and InfoWars’ Jones, The River Tampa Bay Church also hosted a three-day “Reopen America Tour,” which featured a who’s-who of conspiracy theorists and QAnon grifters, including disgraced former U.S. Army lieutenant general and pardoned Trump national security advisor Michael Flynn, accused tax dodger Roger Stone, Mike “The Pillow Guy” Lindell, anti-vaxx filmmaker Del Bigtree, and pizzagate conspiracy theorist Ann Vandersteel.