Texas Man Dresses as the Grinch, Stands Outside Elementary School with 'Santa Is Fake, Jesus Is Real' Sign

“You shouldn’t lie to children,” David Grisham said while dressed as the Dr. Seuss character

A Texas man is facing scrutiny after he dressed as the Grinch and held up a sign that read “Santa is fake, Jesus is real" outside a local elementary school.

Earlier this week, David Grisham dressed up as the Dr. Seuss character and held up the poster while standing in front of Sleepy Hollow Elementary School in Amarillo, Texas.

In a video posted on YouTube, Grisham is approached by an adult male outside the school while in costume. “You shouldn’t lie to children,” he can be heard saying, before the man grabs and rips his sign, then throws it to the ground.

In a statement to PEOPLE, Grisham said, "The Grinch costume was to help the preaching not frighten the children. It worked well, as several children smiled and waved, [and] one gave me a high five."

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In a Facebook post highlighting the incident, Grisham claimed, "The police showed up in force, I got assaulted by a parent and they tore my sign, and the police did their very best to distract me from my mission and blocked me from exercising my first amendment rights as much as they could. They as much as admitted so. Very unprofessional."

He added that he was then allegedly "followed by an unmarked car for several miles" and that "one parent even followed us across town and photographed our license plate at a restaurant we stopped at."

"Hundreds of children heard the message and many parents as well," Grisham continued. "It’s very telling for a society to go this far in protecting a LIE."

"To go that far in trying to protect kids from hearing the truth. It’s no wonder our country is in trouble," he concluded.

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In a statement to PEOPLE, the Amarillo Police Department said, "We did not make an incident report since Mr. Grisham was lawfully on public property when our police officers encountered him."

They added that Grisham is "a self-proclaimed street preacher and known to local law enforcement. He has been around for many years, preaching on the streets. We do get called about him from citizens occasionally."

In a statement given to ABC 7, the school’s principal, Kelsey Williams, said that Grisham was “unwanted and uninvited," adding: "I'm saddened by the fact that some of our kiddos and families were frightened because of him."

The Amarillo School District did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.

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