2023 has not been a good year for the artist formerly known as Tyra Sanchez. The season 2 winner, who was arrested in May after getting in a scuffle with police was arrested again and is currently being held in Bradford County Jail.
via: EW
Ross was arrested Thursday after publicly protesting his initial May 17 arrest for allegedly resisting arrest after a car accident in Starke, Fla., an incident from which EW exclusively obtained body camera footage in June.
"We've arrested James William Ross. He came out and was in his little outfit, and he had the police sign, hanging it up and showing and dancing," chief of police Jeff Johnson tells EW. "He was in a little G-string with a black bra on. It still was within the 'freedom of speech' category. The problem we had was it was in an intersection within a construction zone, but it wasn't really causing a traffic problem."
Johnson explains that it became an issue when Ross "went home" and returned after strapping "on a big old dildo" under his tights.
"He comes back out on the road and starts shaking it, and that's when people started stopping and cussing at him, and causing a traffic problem. It was bad from there on," says Johnson, adding that Ross will be booked on one charge for breach of peace.
Ross is currently being detained in a holding cell in jail but is expected to be booked imminently, says a records clerk for the Bradford County Sheriff's office who wishes to remain anonymous.
EW has reached out to a representative for Ross and to Ross directly for comment.
As his drag persona — which he initially retired in March 2020 — Ross won Drag Race season 2 in 2010, beating out other notable competitors like Raven, Jujubee, and current All Stars 8 competitor Jessica Wild. Since then, the entertainer has become a polarizing figure in the Drag Race fandom, with some criticizing Ross for being banned from DragCon for making allegedly threatening posts ahead of the 2018 event — though Sanchez later apologized for his behavior in 2019.
"I never threatened DragCon and I damn sure never apologized for it," Ross previously told EW via email, in which he also referenced charges related to "exposure of sexual organs," though Starke police did not discuss that charge when reached for comment.
"A drag queen is wrongfully arrested, the drag queen protests, the charges are dropped," Ross said. "Drag queen is cleared and now a week later new charges of 'exposure of sexual organs' because the drag queen protested in drag? Get real."
In the words of the original Tyra...
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