T-shirt vendor quits Cherry Hill Mall over flap

The Teary Eyez kiosk at Cherry Hill Mall stood empty Thursday, days after its owner was told by mall management that he could not sell T-shirts with a slogan protesting police violence.

Management on Tuesday told Amir Miller, 30, that the shirt, which read "THIS HAS TO STOP" above an image of two police officers attacking a figure cowering on the ground, was "controversial" and needed to be removed. The mall was not open to negotiating, he said, and forced him to take down the shirts immediately.

On Wednesday night, he cleared out the kiosk for good.

The mall reversed its decision and apologized Wednesday evening for its "hasty decision." But Miller said he did not consider that apology genuine.

"A bully's only sorry when they get caught," he said.

Standing Thursday in front of a second Teary Eyez location, a kiosk at Philadelphia Mills, Miller pinched his thumb and forefinger until no space was visible between them.

"They made me feel this big," he said.

Miller, who trademarked Teary Eyez in 2010, designed the shirts last week after the deaths of two black men in police shootings in Louisiana and Minnesota. He began selling the shirt at both locations last Friday, and it was popular - "among all races," he emphasized.

It was a peaceful way to speak out on an important national issue, Miller said.

Heather Crowell, a spokeswoman for the mall, said several customers had complained about the shirts to mall management, leading the properties team to tell Miller on Tuesday that he could no longer sell them. But the corporate office determined Wednesday it was "within the parameters" of his contract to sell the shirts and reversed the decision, Crowell said.

Miller said he does not understand why the shirt's message - advocating an end to police violence - would be offensive to anybody, including law enforcement.

"If you don't feel like it has to stop, maybe you're a part of the problem," Miller said.

Quadere Alexander, Miller's 18-year-old nephew, who has worked at both kiosks, said several police officers had come up to the Cherry Hill location and said they appreciated the shirt's positive message. It left "a bad taste" to be told they had to pack up the shirts, he said.

"When a tragedy happens, everybody says, 'Do something about it,' " Alexander said. "When we do something, we get shut down. It's like we don't have a voice."

Miller said mall management told him that two Camden County police officers asked the mall to remove the shirts. Crowell said she could not comment on the customers who had complained.

She said that the mall hopes there won't be a similar incident in the future, but that there are no plans to revise any policies.

"New guidelines are not necessary," she said.

The Philadelphia Mills location was attracting a stream of customers Thursday. Philadelphia Mills has no plans to prevent the sale of the shirt, a spokeswoman said Thursday.

Joan Genaw, a school counselor in Kensington, said she drove to Philadelphia Mills to buy a red "THIS HAS TO SHOP" shirt because she was outraged by Cherry Hill Mall's decision.

"It was ridiculous. . . . It's a shirt that says, stop the violence," Genaw said. "This broke my heart when I saw it and I had to do something."

Cherry Hill Mall management has said Miller is welcome to return and sell the T-shirts, but he said that was not likely.

He expects to lose the remainder of his $2,000 rent for July, in addition to the $2,000 security deposit on the kiosk. Crowell would not comment on whether the mall would refund the money.

Miller, who said he is considering opening a location at the King of Prussia Mall, said it would take significant action to persuade him to return to Cherry Hill, where he had operated the kiosk since March 2015.

"Convince me you're sorry," he said. "Right now, I'm not convinced."

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