by Sharelle B. McNair
January 27, 2026
Picket provided sympathy for North Carolina’s first Black lieutenant governor, Mark Robinson, following a bombshell report that he referred to as himself a “black NAZI.”
Following his viral Minneapolis church incident, journalist Don Lemon has ruffled some feathers with religion leaders like Bishop Patrick L. Picket Sr, who’ve issued harsh warnings in opposition to the previous CNN anchor making any appearances.
The pastor of Higher Room COGIC in Raleigh, NC, spoke out in opposition to the actions of Lemon and First Modification protestors storming right into a church service to confront Cities Church’s lead pastor, David Easterwood, who was revealed to be an ICE agent.
Whereas issues have been seemingly peaceable throughout the service interruption, Picket mentioned that wouldn’t be the case if the identical factor befell in Raleigh.
“Y’all see when these folks invaded that church the opposite day? Now I simply wanna say to protestors and all of them…don’t do this right here. Amen,” the pastor began. “Don Lemon, don’t come right here. You roll up on this church doing stuff like that, and it’s going to be the Royal Rumble.”
As parishioners began to giggle, Picket stood agency on his stance: “The humorous factor is, I’m not joking.”
He added, “We’ve labored exhausting. We constructed the church within the title of the Lord. We devoted it to the Lord. It’s constructed for worship. Our blood, sweat, tears, and funds are on this place. So, individuals who have by no means knocked on the doorways of the church, and by no means contributed one dime to it, going to roll up in right here and disturb our service and scare our youngsters and shout obscenities within the church—that won’t stand on this church.”
The federal authorities feels Lemon and protestors went too far in disrupting the church service, ensuing within the Division of Justice being hopeful {that a} decide would cost Lemon for his anti-ICE protest protection.
That didn’t occur, upsetting U.S. Legal professional Common Pam Bondi and Nicki Minaj.
This isn’t the primary time Picket has controversially spoken out on the day’s sizzling subjects. Following the assassination of Turning Level USA founder Charlie Kirk, Picket praised him for selling conservative Christian values, providing condolences, and urged his parishioners to do the identical.
In 2024, in line with The Christian Submit, he defended former North Carolina gubernatorial candidate and the state’s first Black lieutenant governor, Mark Robinson, following a bombshell report that he labeled himself as a “black NAZI” and praised slavery on a pornographic web site between 2008 and 2012.
“Whether or not these items that they’ve unearthed is him or not …. he mentioned these aren’t the phrases of Mark Robinson, and I imagine him,” mentioned the pastor, who as soon as referred to as Kamala Harris a hazard to Black People. “I imagine him greater than I imagine this media.”
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