Content Warning: This article contains explicit language. Reader discretion is advised.
Arlington Mayor Jim Ross is facing backlash after newly surfaced footage from 2018 shows him using vulgar language and making explicit remarks toward a Christian street preacher.
The video, recorded by Vice News in 2018, was filmed at the Southern Decadence festival in New Orleans, an LGBTQ event held annually over Labor Day weekend. In the footage, Ross, whose face was blurred, can be heard addressing street preacher Ruben Israel with crude language and profanity.
Israel, known for preaching at public events, passed away in 2023, according to Christian Post.
“I believe y’all can have free speech… But this is some hateful sh*t and I am a heterosexual guy,” Ross said in the video (begins at 11:47 in the video).
