A man armed with a gun turned up to a story session at a public library in Houston, Texas despite already being banned for questionable behaviour.
James ‘Doc’ Greene Sr. had previously been banned from the library for taking pictures of children and causing disturbances, so thankfully staff recognised him before he could disturb the children’s stories.
After being arrested the conservative radio show host for Raging Elephants Radio attempted to blame his arrest on ‘being Christian’, and that the librarian was a ‘satanist’. He also accused the police of supporting child sexual assault by allowing the story time to continue.
A spokesperson for the Houston Police Department- Jodi Silva -said Greene entered the library around 15 minutes before its monthly ‘Drag Queen Story Time’ and refused to leave when asked.
“A manager asked us for assistance because [Greene] was banned from the library, and would not leave when he was asked,” Silva says. “He was previously banned for filming children at the library, and has been known to cause disturbances. Several officers had to escort him out.”
After being escorted from the library by police Green continued to refuse to cooperate, he was then handcuffed, and his concealed weapon was taken. Greene then complained of chest pains after he was put in a police vehicle so he was released into the custody of the Memorial Hermann Hospital.
The district attorney declined to file criminal charges against Green.
I was the queen reading on that particular day, and while his intention might have been to ruin the day for everyone involved, it completely failed.
— Regina Blake-DuBois (@ReginaBDuBois) 1 February 2019
Library management & HPD kept him away from the kids, & we had no knowledge it even happened until we were done.
Me, the author, & the armadillo!! pic.twitter.com/BXvgezOYYq
— Regina Blake-DuBois (@ReginaBDuBois) 1 February 2019
Thankfully no children or parents were even aware of the attempted disruption as it was kept away from them by staff. As protests against Drag Queen story time occur it is heartening to see no nastiness, threats, or attempted violence will dampen spirits or stop the libraries from spreading messages of love, tolerance, and acceptance.
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I live in Houston. I and everyone I’ve spoken to about this find his behavior reprehensible. I love that they do Drag Queen Story Time, I just wish they did so in more locations. If it had been available in our neighborhood branch when my kid was younger, we would have been there every week. I hope it continues for many more years.