WATCH: Video shows pastor Bishop Lamor Whitehead assaulting woman during NY service

On September 18, 2022, Bishop Lamor Whitehead was arrested for allegedly assauting a member of his congregation during a service at his New York church.

As per the Shade Room, the incident took place in Brooklyn, where Lamor Whitehead oversees the service at the Leaders of Tomorrow International Ministries in Canarsie. TMZ reported that according to Whitehead, the woman he is accused of assaulting was a disruptive member of the congregation.

The incident was recorded on video and has since gone viral.

Disclaimer: The following video can be disturbing for some audiences. Viewer discretion is advised.

In the video, Lamor Whitehead and the woman can be seen arguing.

Whitehead can firmly be heard telling a woman (who is offscreen):

“You want to come preach? I’m gonna make you famous."

He can also be heard telling other congregation members to escort the woman out, though in the end he can be seen grabbing her by the back of the neck and forcing her out himself. Within an hour, an NYPD detective arrived at the scene and handcuffed Whitehead.

TMZ reported that no charges were made against Whitehead, and he was released a couple of hours later.

---

Lamor Whitehead claims that he thought his family was in danger

In an interview with the New York Daily News, Lamor Whitehead told reporters that he had only grabbed the woman's neck because he had interpreted her as a threat to him and his family.

He said:

“I was almost done with my preaching and these two young ladies came in and sat in the back."

Whitehead claimed that it was a normal service, but things took a turn after the women started being disruptive. He said that they quickly became aggressive, swearing at him and apparently approaching his wife and child.

Whitehead said:

“She came in the middle aisle and just [started] cussing me out, calling me all types of names, calling me all types of things. She came back storming toward my wife and my 10-month-old baby."

Whitehead claimed that having been the victim of an armed robbery in July, seeing the woman aggressively approach his family gave him traumatic flashbacks. He described this as the key reason behind his actions.

He said:

"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 Bishop implied in an online statement that after he was briefly detained, higher ups in the NYPD most likely secured his release.