The Gucci-wearing Brooklyn bishop focused in a $1 million jewellery heist denied Friday that the theft was staged for an insurance coverage payout.
Bishop Lamor Miller-Whitehead was requested concerning the risk, which has been raised on social media, at an “emergency’’ press convention, in keeping with the Brooklyn Paper.
He denied the state of affairs whereas griping about how exhausting it’s been to win “sympathy’’ over his diamond-studded losses.
“Fendi, Louis, and Gucci, why can’t we put on that in church? What’s fallacious with that?” Miller-Whitehead mentioned, referring to his many luxury-brand fits.
Miller-Whitehead, who cops say was robbed by a trio of masked thieves in the midst of his live-streamed sermon Sunday in Canarsie, has needed to struggle again in opposition to critics who mentioned his flashy life-style made him a ripe goal for robbers.
He additionally has been embroiled in different controversies, together with a newly uncovered lawsuit accusing him of bilking a parishioner out of her $90,000 life financial savings in 2020.
The flamboyant clergyman, who’s identified for his costly jewellery and luxurious automobiles, mentioned Friday that the press painted him as a “bling-bling bishop” due to his race.
“The media, for some motive, you painting black males as criminals,” Miller-Whitehead mentioned. “My church can’t get no sympathy nor empathy.”
He informed reporters he was ready to reply any of their questions however when pressed on the lawsuit, he deferred inquiries to his attorneys.
When requested about his relationship with Mayor Eric Adams, who he’s been cozy with since Adams’ previous life as Brooklyn borough president, Miller-Whitehead mentioned he spoke Thursday with the mayor, who “simply inspired me to maintain my head sturdy.”
Throughout an unrelated press convention Friday, Adams mentioned he has “many relationships with individuals” and can proceed to “mentor” Miller-Whitehead as a result of it’s his “obligation to mentor different black males that had detrimental encounters of their lives and different individuals generally.”
When requested concerning the lawsuit in opposition to Miller-Whitehead, Adams replied, “Nobody’s above the regulation” however “that's as much as the courts to resolve.”
Miller-Whitehead held his impromptu press convention to name on elected officers to go a regulation permitting pastors and clergy workers to hold firearms in homes of worship to allow them to shield themselves.
“If the academics can have it, we should always have the ability to have it. Irrespective of if we've a file, it must be exempt,” mentioned Miller-Whitehead, who beforehand did time upstate for grand larceny and identity-theft costs.
A rep for the mayor informed the Brooklyn outlet that Adams doesn’t help the proposal however does assume armed safety guards at locations of worship is a good suggestion.
Further reporting by Bernadette Hogan
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