Security guard calls mall visitor’s ‘Jesus Saves’ shirt offensive, Minnesota video shows
Security guards at the Mall of America confronted a man wearing a “Jesus Saves” shirt and asked him to stop “religious soliciting” by leaving or removing his offensive shirt, video from the Minnesota mall shows.
Paul Shoro, a self-described “street preacher,” visited the Mall of America in a Christian shirt on Saturday, Jan. 7, he wrote on Facebook. On the front, the neon yellow shirt has the text “Jesus Saves” emblazoned in all caps, photos show. On the back, the shirt reads “Jesus is the only way” with a crossed out “Coexist” image, a symbol of inter-religious peace.
At the mall, security guards stopped and confronted Shoro, videos show.
“Jesus is associated with religion and it’s offending people,” one of the guards said in a video shared on Twitter Jan. 12 by @LivingGodsTruth.
“We’re giving you a couple options,” the guard said in another video, “take the shirt off and you can go to Macy’s and you can do your shopping, or you can leave the mall. OK? Those are your only options right now.”
“I’m not wearing anything; I’m not saying anything; I’m not preaching,” Shoro told multiple guards in another video shared on Facebook by Kameko Rawls. “I came here to shop.”
“If you want to shop here, you need to take that shirt off,” a guard said in the video shared on Twitter.
“What’s wrong with my T-shirt?,” Shoro asked.
“Sir, it is religious soliciting,” the guard replied. “There is no soliciting allowed on mall property, which is private property.”
“Last time I was here, they told me to leave, and I did,” Shoro replied in the video with choppy audio. “That day I was preaching, I was preaching the gospel.”
“You’re still soliciting,” mall security replied. “You’re walking, wearing that shirt in the form of soliciting, and we’ve had guests come up saying they’ve been offended by your shirt.”
The Mall of America told KARE11 the man in the video had been “issued a 24-hour trespass for soliciting guests” the week before. The mall said that after the filmed interactions, “the guest was not required to change his shirt and was allowed to remain at the Mall.”
According to the Mall of America’s conduct guidelines, prohibited conduct “may include.. Loitering, engaging in soliciting, blocking storefronts, hallways, skyways, fire exits or escalators, or walking in groups in such a way as to inconvenience others… Picketing, demonstrating, soliciting, protesting or petitioning.”
The video sparked outrage on Twitter. “Bet they wouldn’t have said anything about an Allah Saves shirt,” one user commented.
“He has a free speech right to wear that shirt, and a freedom of religion right to practice his faith in public places,” another Twitter user wrote.
Neither Shoro nor the Mall of America immediately replied to McClatchy News’ request for comment.
The Mall of America “has been caught in a free speech crossfire” on multiple occasions, Poynter reported, with courts siding with the mall. “In 2015, a judge ruled the mall was allowed to stop three Black Lives Matter protesters from demonstrating in the mall or on mall property,” the outlet reported. In 1999, the Minnesota Supreme Court “ruled the mall is private property” after demonstrators “made the argument that the mall is essentially a main street and that they should have free speech rights.”
The Mall of America is in Bloomington, about 10 miles south of Minneapolis.
This story was originally published January 18, 2023 at 11:23 AM with the headline "Security guard calls mall visitor’s ‘Jesus Saves’ shirt offensive, Minnesota video shows."
