A T-shirt vendor at the Cherry Hill Mall in Cherry Hill, N.J., found himself in the center of controversy after he sold T-shirts that he claimed were in protest to police brutality.
Amir Miller, who was operating a T-shirt kiosk in the mall, sold T-shirts that read, “This has to stop” and depicted two stick-figure police officers beating another stick figure. After mall officials told Miller to stop selling the T-shirts, he posted a video defending his design.
“There’s nothing negative about it,” Miller said in the video. “Police brutality has got to stop. It ain’t a white thing, it ain’t a black thing. If you look at the design, it’s one color.”
Miller also said that he agreed to take down the shirts after mall officials spoke with him, but he plans on selling the T-shirts again in the future.
The whole ordeal started after a mall shopper, who claimed his father is a police officer, objected to Miller’s T-shirts, NJ.com reported.
Quadere Alexander, Miller’s nephew and a salesman at the kiosk, told Courior-Post that they made the shirts themselves, and introduced them earlier this week. Alexander added that they had to restock after initially selling out.
“If you’ve got a problem, chances are, you are the problem at the end of the day,” Miller added in the video.
Miller said that mall officials treated him unfairly, specifically saying that the employee who requested that he remove the shirts was “rude.”
The mall said in a statement to Courier-Post that it “made a hasty request,” and since has invited Miller to continue selling the T-shirts.
“Cherry Hill Mall does not condone any type of violence, but we do support our tenants’ right to peacefully conduct their business,” the statement said. “We encourage peaceful unity in the region.”
Philadelphia magazine reported that Miller plans to sell his merchandise elsewhere, despite the mall’s invitation to come back.
What do you think? Were mall officials correct to ask him to stop selling the T-shirts? Let us know in the comments.
