Controversial Brooklyn Bishop Lamor Whitehead proclaimed his innocence to newly filed federal fraud and extortion charges Tuesday in a bizarre Instagram rant urging supporters, “Don’t drink the Kool-Aid.”
“The bishop is not guilty, and I’m gonna fight it,” Whitehead, 44, declared during the 15-minute Instagram video, which shows him sitting on a plush white couch in front of two studio portraits of himself.
“Ain’t nothing changed. I’m still the same bishop,” he said. “And I’ll say it again. Just because you were arrested doesn’t make you guilty. Don’t drink the Kool-Aid. I’m telling you all. You drunk it already. Don’t drink it again. Give it time.”
Whitehead, who retreated to his gaudy New Jersey McMansion after being released on a $500,000 bond late Monday, likened his current dilemma to the fallout from his claims that he was robbed at gunpoint during a live sermon in July.
Critics questioned whether the pastor staged the robbery — until two men were charged.
Controversial Brooklyn Bishop Lamor Whitehead proclaimed his innocence to newly filed federal fraud and extortion charges Tuesday. Gregory P. Mango
“The bishop is not guilty, and I’m gonna fight it,” Whitehead, 44, declared during the 15-minute Instagram video. iambishopwhitehead/Instagram
Bishop Lamor Whitehead is facing extortion and fraud charges. Paul Martinka
“I want you to just do some research,” Whitehead said on Instagram Tuesday. “Don’t let the media shape your mind. Ya’ll did that when my church got robbed.
“Y’all allowed the media, ya’ll allowed what people said, ya’ll allowed the things that they brought up, ya’ll allowed everything to confuse you,” he said. “Do your research.”
The flamboyant minister, who has a penchant for designer clothes, shiny jewelry and motors around town in a Rolls Royce, has been embroiled in controversy for years.
While boasting a friendship with Mayor Eric Adams, Whitehead was convicted in state court of identity theft charges in 2006 and served seven years in prison.
In the new federal indictment, he is charged with bilking a parishioner out of $90,000 intended to buy her a new home and extorting $5,000 from a local businessman.
He’s also facing numerous civil lawsuits.
Despite the new legal challenge, Whitehead remained defiant, describing himself as, “a man of excellence, a man of integrity.”
“And if I wasn’t a man of God the enemy wouldn’t be fighting me like he is,” Whitehead said. “So, I want you guys to keep me in your prayers and also I’m not listening to the noise.
“Ya’ll did that to me before,” he continued. “All of the bloggers everybody with their own way of telling the story. That don’t matter to me. I’m not giving you no light.”
