The incident occurred while Bishop Lamor Whitehead was giving a sermon at the Leaders of Tomorrow International Ministries church in Canarsie. Three men came in and interrupted the sermon while brandishing firearms. NYPD said the assailants “displayed firearms and demanded property” from the bishops and made off with about $400,000 worth of jewelry.

“When I see them come into the sanctuary with their guns, I told everybody to get out, everybody just get out,” Whitehead said in an Instagram video after the incident. “I didn’t know if they wanted to shoot the church up or if they were just coming for a robbery.” The bishop said, “They took all of my wife’s jewelry and took all of my jewelry.”

The footage that went viral on social media showed Whitehead saying “alright, alright,” before getting on his hands and knees. One of the suspects is shown pointing a gun at the pastor’s back.

Awful. Absolutely awful. No fear of repercussions. No respect for anything or anyone. Nothing is sacred or off limits. Shameful. Completely shameful. pic.twitter.com/KQ87MGuZqW

— Darvio Morrow (@DTheKingpin) July 24, 2022

In the Instagram video, Lamor explained that he tried to chase the suspects after they left and hoped they would turn themselves in. “The women and children that was in my church, my daughter, she’s traumatized right now. She’s not even talking,” he said.

Law enforcement said there were no physical injuries reported. But the situation could have been much worse and everyone in that building would have been helpless if this had been a mass shooting situation.

Meanwhile, New York’s government is hard at work keeping residents safe by enforcing laws regulating toy guns. That’s right. They are making progress by keeping fake firearms off the streets. Bearing Arms’ John Petrolino wrote:

While the Big Apple crumbles into a state of despair, highlighted back in April, emblematic of one of the Mayor’s staffers getting robbed recently, and the NYPD showing how tough they are on crime, we have more good news. Recently the NYPD went out of their way to inform the public of the City’s prohibition against “bead blasters”, also known as “gel blasters”.

Last night, great work by our public safety officers whom removed an Orbeez gun off of our streets.
These Bead Blasters shoot gel water beads propelled by a spring-loaded air pump, making them an air rifle. Air rifles are a violation in NYC & are unlawful to possess. pic.twitter.com/MNixDWNnZm

— NYPD 121st Precinct (@NYPD121Pct) July 22, 2022

In most situations, one would hope the police apprehend these thugs immediately. But with officials like New York City District Attorney Alvin Bragg, it seems almost pointless. He, and his ilk, would likely make sure all three of these men were released on a paltry bail amount so they can be free to rob again. After all, one can try to stab a politician in broad daylight and still be free to go five seconds later, right?

But the Democrats running New York are only following the progressive line of logic: Protect people by making them more vulnerable and reliant on the government. It is no coincidence that people like the suspects in this case targeted the church, which is a gun-free zone. You never hear of cases in which armed assailants try to pull off a robbery in a courthouse or city council building, right? There’s a reason for that. The armed guards would ventilate any aggressors before they even had a chance to utter a word.

If there had been at least one law-abiding citizen who was armed, the scene in the church might have gone down much differently. Progressives want the public to believe that the “good guy with a gun” is only a myth dreamed up by the NRA. But the situation in which a man used a gun to stop a mass shooter says differently, which is why the hard left despises these stories. Unfortunately, this scenario is unlikely to play out in places like New York because Democrats are more concerned about making it harder for law-abiding citizens to protect themselves than actually working to keep them safe.