There is no justification that any person should make about this incident to say its acceptable. The reason he wasn’t kicked out is because they know it’s unconstitutional. The police who came to the scene know it and the mall officials know it. This was an attempt at intimidation and misrepresentation of the policies by these ignorant security guards. For anyone to say this is acceptable is unbelievable to me. It’s not, and the man did nothing wrong. The day of the shirt incident, he was not handing out anything. That was the prior incident.
A security guard speaking to the man is heard saying, “You can take the shirt off… or you can leave the mall. Those are your only options right now.”
Later in the two-minute clip, the man asked, “What is wrong with my t-shirt?”
“It is religious soliciting. There is no soliciting allowed on mall property, which is private property,” the guard said. The security guard is also heard telling the man that people are offended by his shirt and that if he takes it off, he can continue shopping.
KARE 11 reached out to the Mall of America for comment on the confrontation. In a statement, MOA confirmed that the man, who’d previously been issued a temporary trespass notice for solicitation, was eventually allowed to stay inside the mall and wasn’t required to change his shirt.
“The guest referenced in the video was approached by Mall of America security on January 7, 2023. One week prior, he was issued a 24-hour trespass for soliciting guests. After a brief interaction, the guest was not required to change his shirt and was allowed to remain at the Mall,” MOA said in a statement.
Security policies at the mall ban “loitering, engaging in soliciting, blocking storefronts, hallways, skyways, fire exits or escalators, or walking in groups in such a way as to inconvenience others,” along with “picketing, demonstrating, soliciting, protesting or petitioning.”
MOA did not provide any specifics about what the man said or did that prompted the 24-hour trespass notice.
Just because he wasn’t kicked out doesn’t mean they weren’t trying to take his rights away as an American. They were and that is not acceptable in any realm of reality.
