Brooklyn bishop Lamor Whitehead holds first Sunday service following armed robbery
CANARSIE, Brooklyn (WABC) -- During the first Sunday service following an armed robbery, there was an odd display.
Bishop Lamor Whitehead re-enacted the incident inside Leaders of Tomorrow International Ministries.
On July 24, three men walked into the church and pointed guns at Whitehead and his family. He says the trio made off with 'hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of jewelry.
Police are investigating, and released images of the suspects entering the second-floor space.
On Sunday there was a much smaller group - the bishop says many parishioners stayed home because they are still traumatized.
"The goal today was to show the world we're not going to allow bad people to stop good things," said Whitehead.
The alleged heist unfolded while services were being streamed live.
"There's police escorts, and I really enjoyed the service and I didn't actually think about it at the time - I was really in the moment," said parishioner Krystal Moore.
The bishop tells Eyewitness News there was additional security inside, but wouldn't go into details. The few people who would talk said they were not afraid to come to church, and that they wanted to show their support/
"People are talking about maybe he was the one who set himself up, an insurance scam - about he's a 'bling bling pastor,' but if he works hard, why can't we wear what we want to wear?" said one parishioner.
Whitehead says he is done defending himself.
"If I keep answering what critics are saying so they can sell media, then I'm going to stunt the growth of my ministry," he said.
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