Brooklyn Bishop Lamor Whitehead arrested after allegedly grabbing a woman
Whitehead reportedly believed was a threat to his family, released by police about two hours later.
A Brooklyn bishop previously robbed of $1 million in jewelry mid-sermon is now in the headlines again after reportedly grabbing a woman during a live-streamed sermon.
The incident happened Sunday, according to The New York Daily News. Bishop Lamor Whitehead reportedly grabbed the woman who he believed was a threat to his family.
"They lock me up in front of my children, in front of my wife, in front of my church," Whitehead told the Daily News hours after his release. "They publicly embarrassed me, and then they drop all the charges after two hours and apologize to me."
Whitehead told the media outlet he was preaching at Leaders of Tomorrow International Ministry in Canarsie when two women walked into the church in the middle of his sermon.
Screenshot of live-streamed sermon Brooklyn Bishop Lamor Whitehead reportedly grabbed woman during. (Leaders of Tomorrow International Ministries/Facebook)
"I was almost done with my preaching and these two young ladies came in and sat in the back," he recounted.
"You want to come preach? Come on up here," Whitehead was heard saying to one of the women who could be heard shouting off-camera during the social media live stream of the services. "I’m gonna make you famous."
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File photo of Bishop Lamor Whitehead, who is accused of grabbing a woman by the back of her neck during a live-streamed sermon (New York Post/Gregory P. Mango)
The video shows the bishop walk off camera and tell someone, "Now move her out of here," while heckling continues.
One of the women then comes toward him, the video shows.
"She came in the middle aisle and just [started] cussing me out, calling me all types of names, calling me all types of things," Whitehead said.
"She came back storming toward my wife and my 10-month-old baby," he continued. "She went toward my wife and that’s when I grabbed her. I grabbed her and took her out of my church. All I could remember was the guys with the guns who put their gun in my baby’s face."
The video shows Whitehead appearing to grab the woman by the back of the neck and push her off camera before yelling, "Grab her! Grab her!"
The Daily News said a detective arrived at the church after the sermon and told Whitehead he would be arrested and charged with assault.
Screenshot of live-streamed sermon from Bishop Lamor Whitehead where he allegedly grabbed a woman by the back of her neck. (Leaders of Tomorrow International Ministries/Facebook)
"They put me in cuffs and I told them I wasn’t getting in, and they grabbed me and picked me up and put me in the car," Whitehead said. "There were a lot of little kids in church that are frightened now — again. All the little babies in my church saw me get arrested, the ones that look up to me."
Police began to process Whitehead at the 69th Precinct station house.
"They dropped all the charges and let me out," he said. "You don’t get to arrest me and throw me in prison. They had me in a cell with someone with felony charges and let me out. It’s not going to stop here. If I was a rabbi, if I was a Catholic priest, they would have never done this."
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One of the women involved was also reportedly taken into custody, police said, but neither she nor Whitehead were immediately charged.
Whitehead was heard in the video calling out the disruption for social media purposes.
"They were some wannabe up-and-coming bloggers," he said. "They came to my church to disrupt my service."
