NEW YORK POST – A man inside the Mall of America last week was ordered by security guards to remove his T-shirt that read “Jesus is the only way” in a viral confrontation that has sparked online outrage.
Security guards told the man that other shoppers at the mall in Bloomington, Minnesota, said they were offended by the shirt.
“Jesus is associated with religion and it’s offending people,” one of the guards tells the man in the video from the Jan. 7 incident.
He was removed from the mall for “preaching the gospel” on another occasion, he said in the video.
A spokesperson for the Mall of America told the Daily Mail that one week prior to the T-shirt incident, the man was “issued a 24-hour trespass for soliciting guests.”
I automatically assumed this was overseas, but it's right here in America. pic.twitter.com/Q79eUCG7xh
— John Mason (@LivingGodsTruth) January 12, 2023
Mall policy forbids “picketing, demonstrating, soliciting, protesting or petitioning” on the premises.
The security guard said the man’s religious tee still counted as soliciting even if he was not actively preaching.
“Again, sir, it is religious soliciting,” he told him in the video. “There is no soliciting allowed on mall property, which is private property.”
He added that people also said they were offended by the shirt.
The mall’s policy also disapproves of “apparel that has obscene language, obscene gestures or racial/religious/ethnic slurs that are likely to create a disturbance,” according to its website.
“I’m giving you a couple options,” the guard told the man, who was wearing a long-sleeved shirt underneath the T-shirt. “You can take your shirt off and you can go to Macy’s and you can do your shopping — or you could leave the mall. Those are your only options right now.”
However, the man was eventually allowed to keep his shirt on and go about his shopping …
Supporters of the man said they planned to wear Jesus shirts en masse to the shopping mall as a protest … read more.
