WATCH: Tampa Pastor Arrested For Holding Service With Hundreds in Attendance

A megachurch in Tampa, FL held a service Sunday with hundreds of people in attendance. And no, they weren’t six feet apart. According to Fox’s Tampa affiliate Fox 13, The River Church defended their decision to keep their doors open while offering a virtual stream of the service.

“They are trying to beat me up over having the church operational,” Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne told church-goers. “But we are not non-essential.”

In response, the county’s sheriff’s department has put up a sign outside the church discouraging people to go inside, per Fox 13. According to The Daily Beast, Howard-Browne was arrested Monday and charged with “unlawful assembly and violation of public health rules” over his reckless decision.

Howard-Browne quickly defended his decision on the church’s YouTube channel by telling viewers: “We brought in 13 machines that basically kill every virus in the place. If they sneeze it shoots it down like at 100 miles per hour and it will neutralize it in a split second.”

Howard-Browne has long been a conspiracy theorist who also believes he can cure diseases. On Feb. 26, the pastor said he could, “cure coronavirus like he did with Zika.” He’s also made headlines for allegations of an attack on President Donald Trump, beliefs of celebrity human sacrifice, and calling deadly hurricanes “nothingburger.”

He made an appearance on Alex Jones‘ Infowars in 2018 to promote his book, “The Killing of Uncle Sam.”

Of course, Howard-Browne still intends to defy state and federal guidelines for the sake of his services.

“This has to be the safest place,” he said. “If you cannot be saved in church, you in serious trouble.”

This post was updated with additional information.