Editor’s note: This article contains sexually graphic descriptions.
A 2018 video has resurfaced purportedly showing a Texas mayor making vulgar, anti-Christian remarks toward a street preacher at an LGBT event.
In the footage (WARNING: explicit language), a man reported to be the current Mayor Jim Ross of Arlington, a suburb of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, is heard telling late street evangelist Ruben Israel that his preaching was “hateful” and claimed he sodomized Israel’s wife.
The up-close confrontation, captured by Vice News in 2018 at the Southern Decadence festival in New Orleans, appears to show a blurred Ross berating Israel. “I believe you all can have free speech, but this is some hateful s— and I am a heterosexual guy,” said Ross.
After insulting Israel, Ross begins to rant about “anal sex,” telling Israel that he had anal sex with his “old lady.”
“That’s why you’re here with them,” Israel replied.
The confrontation ends with Ross referring to what he called a “stupid redneck church” and using a string of expletives.
Ross was first identified by The Dallas Express and reported by the Daily Mail as the man harassing Israel and other street evangelists.
Israel, who made headlines by pursuing and winning a free speech lawsuit after an altercation with Muslim protesters in Michigan, died in June 2023.
It’s not clear whether Ross’ attendance at the 2018 Southern Decadence event was business or pleasure. The Democrat was elected mayor in 2021.
Southern Decadence is billed as the “largest LGBT event in New Orleans,” drawing upwards of 300,000 revelers annually.
Rich Penkoski, an Oklahoma street preacher and activist who spent time with Israel, says he and Israel “discussed a lot” of what transpired with Ross at the 2018 Southern Decadence festival, particularly about the “kind of people that are now being elected” to office.
“Since Ross became mayor, it’s been nothing but drag queens and pride events, sex toy(s), where children have access to them and stuff like that,” Penkoski told CP Monday. “It just shows the moral decay in this country and why Christians need to stand up and fight.”
Ross did not respond to a request for comment from CP on Monday. This story will be updated if a response is received.
A former U.S. Marine and Arlington police officer, Ross was elected the city’s mayor in June 2021 and re-elected in 2023. He has been a vocal supporter of the LGBT community since taking office, including endorsing a controversial drag show in 2023.
According to reports, Ross is also the father of Jordan Walker Ross, an actor who has appeared on “The Chosen.” Ross is also listed as an advisory committee member for Girls Inc., a STEM-focused organization that advocates for abortion and “transgender awareness.”
A report last month found Jim Ross owes more than $174,000 in back taxes to the IRS. The mayor told KERA News he is currently on a payment plan for the unpaid taxes from 2015 and 2019.
