Bishop Lamor Whitehead, a bishop at the Leaders of Tomorrow church in Brooklyn, New York, was preaching to his flock while wearing a gold-rimmed burgundy suit, a long gold chain, and a large ring on each hand. When he saw the bandits enter the church from behind the camera, he immediately stopped his sermon and began following the gunmen’s orders.
“How many of you have lost your faith because you saw somebody else die with what you were about to go through” Whitehead was saying before stopping and saying “all right, all right” as he put his hands in the air and laid on the floor.
A masked man holding a pistol can then be seen searching Whitehead’s pockets, taking out what appears to be a large wad of cash, before taking the bishop’s jewelry. Police say the robbers made off with $400,000 worth of jewelry and cash from Whitehead, his wife, and possibly some of the church members.
The video of the robbery was taken off the church’s Facebook* page but has been posted elsewhere online.
Whitehead previously made headlines when he publicly announced he was negotiating the surrender of an accused subway shooter. Whitehead said he was close to the shooter’s family and had convinced him to turn himself in. However, the alleged shooter was picked up by police at a Legal Aid office. While a spokesperson for the Legal Aid office criticized police for ambushing the subject unnecessarily, they also disputed Whitehead’s account, saying that the bishop had no connection to the family.
The flashy man of God has also been connected to New York City Mayor Eric Adams and spoke at Biz Markie’s homegoing funeral. He was previously convicted of auto-loan fraud before reforming himself and becoming an ordained minister.
In 2021, Whitehead ran for borough President of Brooklyn after Eric Adams vacated the seat when he ran for mayor. Whitehead came in 12th place out of a field of 12 candidates, gaining 1.4% of the vote.
In a later Instagram post, Whitehead let his congregation know that he was not hurt in the robbery. No suspects have been named in connection to the crime.
*Facebook is owned by Meta, an organization banned in Russia