The Mall of America continues to face backlash for its treatment of a Christian man wearing a “Jesus Saves” shirt. The video, which was shared on various social media outlets, shows a man named Paul Shoro in a confrontation over his “Jesus Saves” shirt with mall security guards. In the video, Shoro is seen wearing a bright yellow shirt with “Jesus Saves” on the front and “Jesus is the only way” on the back with the “coexist” symbol crossed out. In the video, the security guard warns Shoro, “You can take the shirt off… or you can leave the mall. Those are your only options right now.” When Shoro asks what is wrong with his shirt, the guard responds, “It is religious soliciting. There is no soliciting allowed on mall property, which is private property.” Shoro noted that he had been asked to leave the week prior for preaching to people, which he had done. Shoro insisted that he had not been preaching this time. “Jesus is associated with religion, and it is offending people. People have been offended,” the guard told Shoro.

Shoro was eventually permitted to remain in the mall with his shirt. According to Mall of America policies, the mall does not permit “inappropriate attire,” which includes “apparel that has obscene language, obscene gestures or racial/religious/ethnic slurs that are likely to create a disturbance.” In a statement regarding the incident, the Mall stated, “The guest referenced in the video was approached by Mall of America security. 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.” 

Reactions about the interaction have been primarily in Shoro’s favor, with one Twitter user writing, “These mall cops kick out a black man for wearing a ‘Jesus Saves’ T-shirt at the mall of America. But if he were wearing a BLM shirt, they’d bend the knee.” Shoro discussed the incident during an interview with the YouTube channel “Kingdom Bizness.” During the interview, he revealed that he had been bringing Gospel tracts to the mall previously for some time before being warned to stop and being given his 24-hour trespass notice. He noted that soon after he stopped sharing the tracts, there was a shooting at the mall, which left one man dead. 

This event solidified the need for people to hear about Jesus in Shoro’s mind, and he decided to start wearing his shirt whenever he was at the mall. During the incident, feeling that the requests to remove his shirt violated his Constitutional rights, he said, “I would rather go to jail or die” than remove his shirt. He also noted that he felt God intervened in the situation as another officer joined the confrontation. After speaking to the other guards, the officer told Shoro everything was alright and that he could continue shopping throughout the mall. 

The incident has spurred Christians in the area to action. A group called “Bloomington Patriots” is organizing a “Jesus at the Mall” event and is encouraging participants to wear Jesus shirts.