An ex-Muslim turned Christian pastor was arrested at the Mall of America in August for holding a private conversation about his faith with two consenting passersby, and now faces a formal trial if the charges against him aren’t dropped.
Ramin Parsa, a Muslim from Iran who fled his home country after converting to Christianity, related his story to PJ Media, but was ignored by most major news outlets in Minnesota. Parsa currently resides in Los Angeles, but visited Minnesota for a trip in August and was invited by one of his hosts to see “the biggest mall in North America.”
“We went to the mall, randomly ran into some Somalis, we had a random conversation. They asked me where I’m from,” he told PJ Media. “I told them, and the conversation led to whether I was Muslim or not. I replied, ‘I used to be but I’m a Christian now.’”
During the encounter, “another woman who was not part of the conversation went and complained to the security,” he said, and was accused of soliciting by the guards. He dropped the conversation, and went to a coffee shop with his hosts, but was again approached by security who arrested him on the spot.
“When we came out of the coffee shop, three guards were waiting for us, and they arrested me right there,” he said. “They came after me and arrested me, and said, ‘You cannot talk religion here.’”
Parsa was then handcuffed to a chair in the basement of the Mall of America where he waited for four hours before police arrived and was charged with criminal trespassing. But the two Somali-American women whom Parsa was speaking with continued to defend him, and objected to the onlooker who reported him.
As a result of the incident, Parsa now faces a pre-trial hearing scheduled for December 11 and will then head to a formal trial if prosecutors refuse to drop the charges. He currently serves as a pastor for Redemptive Love Ministries in Los Angeles and has become an outspoken critic of his former faith.
Born and raised in Iran, Parsa claims he “was stabbed” after converting to Christianity, and eventually fled Iran as a “religious refugee.”
“With tears in my eyes, I was so thankful to be in America, where I can express myself, nobody can stop me or oppress me for my faith…and then this happened to me,” he told PJ Media, saying he’s “gone through this before,” but only “in Muslim countries.”
“I didn’t expect this would happen in America. As a citizen in America, I have rights. They denied my basic rights,” he said, noting that “it seems like the only people who can be bullied are the Christians.”
“In Muslim countries, they kill the gays. They throw them off the buildings. I saw with my own eyes people being executed,” he added, but “Christians are being persecuted and bullied, and nobody says anything to defend them.”
Parsa has retained legal aid to fight the charges, and has launched a fundraiser to help offset his legal fees.
“I was arrested in the liberal state of Minnesota just because I shared my conversion story with Somali Muslims at their request in a personal conversation,” Parsa recently wrote on Facebook on Election Day. “We can actually do something about it. It’s Election Day, liberal politicians are controlled by Islamists because they need their votes to say in power. Let’s vote tomorrow, let’s tell them that America deserves better.”
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Anthony Gockowski is managing editor of Battleground State News and The Minnesota Sun. Follow Anthony on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Ramin Parsa” by Ramin Parsa.
[…] Christianity is under attach throughout the world… Haters of Christianity Man arrested for talking about Jesus in Mall of America https://theminnesotasun.com/2018/11/30/minnesota-media-ignores-story-of-ex-muslim-who-was-arrested-at… […]
The only way to stop this kind of abuse against religions is to sue the mall for as much money as you can get. That will send a message to all America as to what the consequence will be for such vicious abuse against religion.
[…] As The Minnesota Sun reported in November, Parsa visited Minnesota in August & was invited by one of his hosts to see “the biggest mall in North America.” While there, Parsa said he “randomly ran into some Somalis, we had a random conversation.” […]
[…] As The Minnesota Sun reported in November, Parsa visited Minnesota in August and was invited by one of his hosts to see “the biggest mall in North America.” While there, Parsa said he “randomly ran into some Somalis, we had a random conversation.” […]
[…] As The Minnesota Sun reported in November, Parsa visited Minnesota in August and was invited by one of his hosts to see “the biggest mall in North America.” While there, Parsa said he “randomly ran into some Somalis, we had a random conversation.” […]
[…] As The Minnesota Sun reported in November, Parsa visited Minnesota in August and was invited by one of his hosts to see “the biggest mall in North America.” While there, Parsa said he “randomly ran into some Somalis, we had a random conversation.” […]
I live in MN & it wasn’t until I received a letter from a pro-family organization that I was made aware of this ‘persecution’. The person who responded saying this Christian was arrested because he wouldn’t leave the MOA — what was/is your source? Yes, parts of MN are liberal & the conservative people in the rural part of the state do not appreciate that the Twin Cities with highest population ‘gets’ to set the trend for this state. Pastor Parsa’s 1st Amendment rights were violated & I agree with others who have commented that he should be given a public apology & all legal/travel expenses should be refunded to him including interest. This arrest was unacceptable & Christians/conservatives need to stand up & defend him.
This is sad news concerning this Man as a pastor of the Christian Faith who has been falsely accused . The person who instigated this should be charged for hating as the persons representing the authority should be charged with much more including abuse of authority. I am a Canadian and see the same happening here and public media supporting it . It is a great deception played by the master of deception and people believing the lie (including Government officials who are to serve and protect) which is as well abusing authority. All I can say is as for us as a family we will never darken the doors of this Mall again. Intelligence of the people here on earth is certainly at an all time low. Mr. Pastor you are not alone! Stay the course since you know how this will end when our time for all will no longer exist.
It is amazing how many people will read the pastor’s story and conclude that he was wronged, as if his story is gospel. Don’t be so easily fooled. He was arrested for refusing to leave the mall. If you think he’s telling you the whole story, try thinking for yourself occasionally.
Nobody should be forced to leave a mall because one person doesn’t like what he was saying. The Mall of America should be sued for allowing their security employees to illegally detain Mr. Parsa.
The rapture is very imminent, Jesus is coming very soon. We must not take His mercies and grace for granted. We should not continue in sin and rebellion
This is disgusting! I don’t identify as a Christian, but that doesn’t matter. In America we are supposed to have freedom of religion. How in the world can a man having a private conversation with two other people in a public mall get arrested for something as stupid as this? This is bullshit! What the fuck type of corrupt Society are we living in for something like this to happen? I agree with pretty much all of the commenters above, that this poor innocent man should sue all those people and keep giving this more media attention!
Except I don’t agree with that one jerk who thinks that no Muslims can’t convert to a different religion. That’s bigoted bullshit and absolute crap! Every single person on earth is unique and nobody is exactly the same. Nobody thinks exactly alike. Throwing everybody in the box is Ludacris! Every single group has somebody who thinks outside the box. This is why we have so many different versions of Christianity oh, so many different political parties, so many different religions in general Etc! Take two people of the exact same political party and religion and ask them a series of questions. I guarantee at least one or two of those questions will have different answers. Enough said!
This is truly horrible.. Shame on you Mall of America!
I have to see this in order to believe it
I’ve heard but never seen any muslims transition over
our Lord Jesus CHRIST
I’ve been around a lot of muslims
and in absolute no way they’d switch
our to trust Jesus CHRIST!!!
Hal Lemoyne, many Muslims come to Christ after hearing the Truth of Jesus. I highly recommend reading Seeking Allah Finding Jesus by Nabeel Qureshi. Amazing true story of God redeeming a devout Muslim when he sought Truth. (Its also an audio book, read by the author himself.) Enjoy!
Hal. Iran is the place were Christianity is growing fastest in the world. Many Muslim nations this is happening. They are not building Churches and changing statistics, bit they are meeting in homes. Reading the Bible. Praying to Jesus. Being baptized and following Jesus.
Jesus loves the Muslim world- and revival is actively happening there!
Pastor Parsa needs to file a lawsuit against the following: 1.The Mall of America 2. The security guards who detained him. 3. The City of Bloomington 4. The woman who filed the complaint against him. The lawsuit can only be dropped if the following conditions are met: 1. Pastor Parsa is reimbursed for the fines and costs incurred to him. 2. Each participant in the lawsuit is made to issue a public apology to Pastor Parsa. If these conditions are not met, there an effort to boycott the Mall of America by Christians until things change and Christians are allowed to express their beliefs as stated in the Constitution.
Obviously, the three guards and the woman who reported the conversation to security haven’t heard about the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America. And what about the local Prosecutor? He’s allowing this farce to proceed?
If anyone thinks this is a 1st amendment issue, you very clearly have not read the 1st amendment! ‘The GOVERNMENT’. The first amendment doesn’t apply on private property, you can be asked to leave for any reason whatsoever.
A mall is a “public accommodation.” You cannot be asked to leave because you are speaking to people unless THEY object. This was an onlooker who didn’t like the subject under discussion. The First Amendment violation, applied through the 14th to a public accommodation, very much applies here.
Ramin should win this case, plus damages. And all the monetary damages can go to buy bibles for Iran
There is a dark side to “Minnesota nice” and this is it!
This is protected by several Amendments in our Constitution. Time to fight back.
This is outrageous. What has become of our beloved , land of the free and home of the brave, when a man who fled his homeland to avoid threats and
persecution due to his religious faith came to America, once a refuge of the oppressed, only to find himself persecuted for his faith as he was back in the religious tyranny of Iran— all due to the insane, politically correct tyranny that has trashed our Constitution and liberties and turned our haven for the oppressed into a sewar of insane ideologies that only bring tyranny and destruction to a nation.
Clearly, his rights were egregiously violated. I don’t see how the courts have ANY legal standing to prosecute him. He should sue for false arrest and imprisonment.
While I whole heartedly agree with your sentiment, no rights were violated. 1. The Constitution protects your rights from violations by the government, not private entities (Mall of America). 2. He is charged with trespassing, not “practicing religion ” or any other speech.
Were all the people in the mall considered trespassers, or just the one who wasn’t walking the “liberal” walk, according to some nosy buttinski? Is the mall posted “private property – no Christians allowed”? Or “All conversations monitored”? Are the bathrooms and water fountains marked for “Muslims and non-Christians only”? If all are treated equally (that is, the way this man was treated) that mall will be closing soon. Goodbye, Mall of ?? ! And I do believe our laws are designed to protect us from each other, as well as from the government. Maybe you should pick up a few books and do some reading.
I would like to know the name of the Mayor, the police Chief, the State Rep and Senator in the area so I can write them, this is very concerning. It isn’t right at all.
It’s the city of Bloomington, MN. You should be able to google and find more information. What is even more fascinating is that he was arrested for trespassing with refusal to leave. A couple years ago a BLM movement had a protest at the mall, it was illegal because it’s a private building and they were not given the right to protest… some were arrested for the same charges and charges were then dropped. They were protesting (a few hundred at least) the shooting of a criminal who refused to surrender and reached for a cops gun (there was video and evidence of this) who had a long rap sheet… and this guy talks to some people who asked about his religious choices and gets arrested… ridiculous.