A bishop was robbed at gunpoint in the middle of a sermon Sunday, July 24, in Brooklyn, and it was caught on video.
Bishop Lamor Whitehead says five to ten minutes into the sermon, he saw the door in the back of the room kicked open and about four men walked in with guns. He believes he was targeted when the service was being live-streamed.
“I said, ‘Alright, alright, alright,’ pretty much stating that I’m not going to do anything because I know you’re coming for me. You’re coming straight to me. I don’t want my parishioners hurt. I’ve got women and children there,” said Whitehead, of Leaders of Tomorrow International Ministries.
“As I got down, one went to my wife and took all her jewelry and had the gun in front of my 8-month-old baby’s face. Took off my bishop’s ring, and my wedding band and took off my bishop’s chain, and then I had chains underneath my robe and he started tapping my neck to see if anything else. So that means they knew. They watched and they knew that I have other jewelry,” he explained.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the mayor said, “No one in this city should be the victim of armed robbery, let alone our faith leaders and congregants worshiping in a House of God. The NYPD is investigating this crime and will work tirelessly to bring the criminals involved to justice.”
Fortunately, no one was hurt during the robbery.
