Police Called After Pastor Grabs Woman By The Neck During Livestreamed Church Service
They let him go without charges.
YouTube A Brooklyn Pastor was caught on camera appearing to assault a woman during his Sunday service.
Bishop Lamor Whitehead, well-known as the “Designer Pastor” for the expensive clothing he wears, was performing a live-streamed sermon in the Canarsie neighborhood of Brooklyn when a woman began speaking out in the crowd.
After calling her up to the stage and telling her to preach instead, he manhandles her to the side and tells security to get her out of there.
Bishop Lamor Whitehead was arrested after the video of the alleged assault was released.
When police responded to the situation, they arrested the woman and let the pastor go free.
It’s unclear what prompted the situation to escalate, but video footage of the sermon and the moments leading up to the altercation show there was an argument about people recording the service.
RELATED: Mom Reveals Truth Behind Video Of Her Son’s Damage To Her Home After Getting Slammed Online
After talking about the biblical figure “Leah” for a small stretch of time, Bishop Whitehead asks “Y’all good?” to the people arguing in the back.
“Let em, let em record. They’ll be alright,” he repeats. “Let em, let em record. Amen.”
The arguing is inaudible, but Bishop Whitehead becomes visibly irritated as he continues to address the woman causing a disruption.
“Amen, we’re going to pause right here,” he said. “In the name of Jesus, we’re going to pause right here.”
Pausing the sermon, he begins inciting the woman, telling her that if she wants to preach then she should go up to the stage and preach herself.
“Come on up here,” he said. “Imma make you famous.”
Bishop Whitehead goads the disruptive people on, telling them to continue taking pictures, recording, and posting on social media as the congregation gives “Jesus a round of applause.”
As the woman crosses over to the front of the stage, that’s when Whitehead assaults her, grabbing her from behind the neck aggressively and guiding her off to the side, telling people to grab her and take her outside.
“Press whatever charges you want,” Bishop Whitehead says. “You’re not going to come in my space, I feel threatened.”
Like nothing even happened, he asks the congregation to clap it up so they can get back to “the word of God.”
Footage grabbed by bystanders shows that, later on, Bishop Whitehead and the woman, named Tarsha, were arrested.
Tarsha allegedly had a scratch on her neck where Bishop Whitehead grabbed her while the bishop was left unscathed.
After being released from police custody, Bishop Whitehead posted a video on Facebook, responding to the incident that occurred, claiming that some “bloggers” sent the two women to interrupt his service.
“I have lawsuits out, and you know, when retaliation is retaliation, that’s just what it is,” he says. “These gentlemen, and we have proof, these gentlemen sent these two women in my church to disrupt my church.”
He claims that they were recording the disruption, but when the woman started throwing insults at and charged his wife, that’s when he got physical.
He also claims that he’s pro-women and has never been an abuser, nor would he ever be one.
Law enforcement charged the women with two misdemeanors for trespassing and disrupting a service or funeral, and let Bishop Whitehead go without any charges, according to TMZ.
Isaac Serna-Diez is an Assistant Editor who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice, and politics. Keep up with his rants about current events on his Twitter.