James “Doc” Greene is a Religious Right talk radio host who has been broadcasting from Houston, Texas for years. Last weekend, he was arrested after he entered a public library with a concealed weapon to protest a “Drag Queen Storytime” event and refused to leave.
Outsmart Magazine, Houston’s LGBTQ outlet, reported Tuesday that Greene had been escorted out of the Houston Public Library the weekend prior because he refused to leave the building, from which he was banned after he reportedly filmed children visiting the library.
In a video Greene recorded of the incident, he flashes what looks like a White House press pool badge dated October 28 (no year given) to argue that he is a member of the media. For about five minutes, Green bickers with Houston Police Department members who are requesting that he leave the premises before he tells them, “We have a bunch of homosexuals that are molesting children. They are doing it with your help.”
After Greene continued to refuse officers’ demands that he go to his vehicle and leave the library premises, officers handcuffed him and confiscated his concealed firearm. There is no indication that Green intended to use his handgun in the library, and Texas law permits concealed carry permit holders to tote firearms in most public venues. Greene complained of chest pains after he was placed in a squad car and was taken to a hospital, where he reportedly stayed for six hours. No charges have been filed against Greene.
“The police, unfortunately, have become the criminals themselves,” Greene said in an interview after the incident, accusing officers of violating his First Amendment rights.
The Houston web-outlet Raging Elephants Radio, where Greene currently broadcasts, has obsessed over the drag queen storytime events. Earlier this month, Houston conservatives affiliated with Raging Elephants Radio tried to file a lawsuit claiming that drag queens reading picture books to children and parents violated the freedom of religion clause.
Green has been mocked for broadcasting his show with cardboard cutouts of Presidents Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump standing behind him when he’s on-mic.
