State Attorney Suzy Lopez (appointed by @GovRonDeSantis in Hillsborough County) is officially persecuting Christians over public speech. Her office just charged me with a crime for preaching to Muslims on public property in Tampa.
— Rich Penkoski (@WFCPreacher) July 17, 2026
Here is the truth about the absolute lies and… pic.twitter.com/weB6TPn5HB
State Attorney Suzy Lopez (appointed by
@GovRonDeSantis
in Hillsborough County) is officially persecuting Christians over public speech. Her office just charged me with a crime for preaching to Muslims on public property in Tampa.Here is the truth about the absolute lies and shifting narratives they are using to try to lock me up.
I was preaching in an open, public parking garage—not a mosque, not a building. Just public infrastructure. The state hit me with two charges: disorderly conduct and interrupting a religious assembly.
The entire case against me is built on fabricated evidence:
The Phantom Bullhorn: The campus investigating officer claimed under oath she reviewed our live-stream video. She wrote that we "had a bullhorn but wasn't sure if it was used." If you watch the video, it’s obvious we didn’t even have one. Loud horns are strictly banned on campus, so we didn't bring one. How do you watch a video and not know if a bullhorn was blasting? She completely ignored the evidence.
The "Crushed Skulls" Lie: Under oath, the Muslim students claimed that while they were prostrating in prayer, I stood right near their heads in my boots and threatened to crush their skulls. Multiple video angles of the entire event prove this literally never happened. Nobody stopped near them, and nobody threatened them.
The CAIR Flip-Flop: When the initial campus police officers were called to the scene, the students explicitly told them on the record that they were not afraid and that there were no threats or violence. It was only a few days later, once the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) got involved, that the narrative magically flipped to "we were terrified he was going to crush our skulls."
Suzy Lopez is trying to set a massive, dangerous legal precedent here. If I lose this case, it means anyone can initiate a prayer on a public sidewalk, a public street, or a parking lot, and completely wipe out your First Amendment rights. You won't even be able to speak to them without being thrown in jail.
They are weaponizing the law to criminalize Christian speech in the public square, and they're using flat-out lies to do it.
Replies