Tag Archives: Mall of America

Wearing a Jesus Shirt is now prohibited attire at the Mall of America

Jesus Shirt

1Peter 4:12-14 “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.

Important Takeaways:

  • ‘It is offending people’: Man wearing a ‘Jesus Saves’ T-shirt at Mall of America is ordered by security guard to take it off or leave – at nation’s most famous shopping center
  • [In a video clip] A security guard at the nation’s most famous shopping center in Minnesota can be heard telling the man: ‘If you want to shop here you need to take off that shirt’.
  • Another clip shows the same guard saying: ‘Jesus is associated with religion and it is offending people. People have been offended.’
  • Mall of America security guards threatened to kick man out if he did not oblige
  • Social media users reacted with fury, as one said he should sue the Mall
  • A Mall spokesman says the man was later allowed to continue shopping

Read the original article by clicking here.

Thrown from mall balcony, Minnesota boy now walks ‘perfectly,’ attends school

(Reuters) – A little boy, critically injured when a stranger threw him off a balcony at a Minnesota mall last spring, is back in school and walking normally, after numerous surgeries, physical therapy and an outpouring of public support, according to a family friend.

Landen Hoffman fell nearly 40 feet (12 meters) onto the concourse of the Mall of America in Bloomington last April when he was 5 years old. He was randomly picked up and thrown from the third floor by a man who police said was venting his anger.

When he finally came back home in August, his legs were uneven and he was limping, family friend Noah Hanneman said on Friday on the GoFundMe page that raised more than $1 million for Landen’s medical expenses from more than 29,000 donors.

After much physical therapy, he is now walking “perfectly,” Hanneman said.

“He loves being back to school and going to kindergarten at the same school his twin brother and sister go to,” Hanneman wrote. “He gets out of the car every morning happy and blows kisses all the way in! He’s a strong, happy boy.”

The man who admitted throwing Landen from the balcony, 24-year-old Emmanuel Aranda, is serving a 19-year prison term he accepted in June after pleading guilty in Hennepin County District Court to attempted first-degree murder.

Aranda told investigators he had been visiting the mall for years to try to talk to women, but was rejected and became angry. He said he initially intended to kill an adult, but chose the boy instead.

Despite the horrific ordeal, Hanneman said Landen has “good memories” of the friends, family members and medical professionals who helped him in his recovery.

“Landen knows people all over the world are praying for him and he loves all the cards he keeps getting in the mail,” he wrote. “There was one bad person, but from that came millions of Good people!”

(Reporting by Peter Szekely in New York; Editing by David Gregorio)

Man accused of throwing boy at Minnesota mall first sought to kill an adult: prosecutors

FILE PHOTO: Emmanuel Deshawn Aranda, charged with attempted homicide of a 5-year-old boy thrown or pushed from a third-floor balcony at Minnesota's Mall of America, is seen in this combination photo from police released pictures in Bloomington, Minnesota, U.S., on April 12, 2019. Courtesy City of Bloomington Police Department/Handout via REUTERS

(Reuters) – The man accused of seriously injuring a 5-year-old boy by throwing him from a balcony at Minnesota’s Mall of America last week told investigators he had initially intended to kill an adult, but it did not “work out,” prosecutors said on Monday.

Emmanuel Aranda, who police said has a history of mental issues and arrests on relatively minor charges, went to the mall last Thursday and left without following through on his plan, the Hennepin County Attorney’s office said.

Aranda told investigators he returned to the mall on Friday still intending to kill an adult, but picked the boy instead, and admitted throwing him from the building’s third tier, the attorney’s office said in a complaint.

“(Aranda) acknowledged repeatedly in his interview that he had planned and intended to kill someone at the mall that day and that he was aware that what he was doing was wrong,” prosecutors said in a complaint filed with Hennepin County District Court.

Aranda said years of coming to the mall to try talk to women only to be rejected “caused him to lash out and be aggressive,” according to the complaint.

Police have not identified the boy, but said he suffered life-threatening injuries after falling nearly 40 feet (12 meters) at the Bloomington mall, a major tourist attraction in the state. Prosecutors said he remained in critical condition on Monday.

MORE THAN $600,000 RAISED

In a GoFundMe post that raised $617,000 for the child’s medical expenses by Monday afternoon, a family friend identified as Noah Hanneman of Woodbury, Minnesota, said the boy’s first name is Landen.

Aranda, 24, of Minneapolis, will face attempted premeditated first-degree murder charges when he appears in court on Tuesday, and prosecutors will ask that bail be set at $2 million, the complaint said.

“We charged Mr. Aranda with the most severe crime that the evidence allowed,” Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said in a statement.

After throwing the boy from the balcony, Aranda fled the scene but was arrested elsewhere at the mall a short time later, Bloomington Police Chief Jeff Potts said on Friday.

Aranda had been arrested by Bloomington police three times in 2015, including once after he threw an object from the third level at the mall, Potts told reporters on Saturday.

Some of Aranda’s previous arrests were heard in mental health court, Potts added.

(Reporting by Peter Szekely in New York; Editing by Matthew Lewis)