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The Gucci-wearing Brooklyn bishop targeted in a $1 million jewellery heist denied Friday that the theft was staged for an insurance coverage payout.
Bishop Lamor Miller-Whitehead was requested in regards to the risk, which has been raised on social media, at an “emergency’’ press convention, in line 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 mistaken with that?” Miller-Whitehead stated, referring to his many luxury-brand fits.
Miller-Whitehead, who cops say was robbed by a trio of masked thieves in the course of his live-streamed sermon Sunday in Canarsie, has needed to struggle again towards critics who stated his flashy way of life 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 recognized for his costly jewellery and luxurious automobiles, stated Friday that the press painted him as a “bling-bling bishop” due to his race.
“The media, for some purpose, you painting black males as criminals,” Miller-Whitehead stated. “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 stated he spoke Thursday with the mayor, who “simply inspired me to maintain my head sturdy.”
During an unrelated press convention Friday, Adams stated 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 unfavourable encounters of their lives and different individuals typically.”
When requested in regards to the lawsuit towards Miller-Whitehead, Adams replied, “No one’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 cross a regulation permitting pastors and clergy employees 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. No matter if we have now a file, it must be exempt,” stated Miller-Whitehead, who previously did time upstate for grand larceny and identity-theft prices.
A rep for the mayor informed the Brooklyn outlet that Adams doesn’t help the proposal however does suppose armed safety guards at locations of worship is a good suggestion.
Additional reporting by Bernadette Hogan
