ANN ARBOR, MI - A downtown Ann Arbor business has shut down indefinitely amid accusations the owner has a history of sharing white supremacist views with customers.

J.C. Potts, owner of Pangea Piercing on Liberty Street, denies espousing racist views and told The Ann Arbor News he closed the shop after receiving threats as a result of the allegations.

A sign posted at the entrance to Pangea Piercing noted the business was "closed until further notice" Thursday, Aug. 23, two days after a social media post regarding comments attributed to Potts spread far and wide.

Spread the word if you’re in a2‼️‼️ do not go to Pangea piercing and be aware that Ann Arbor is NOT immune to these types of situations. pic.twitter.com/gEqS0n7CgD — Lo (@LauraStroudd) August 22, 2018

The post alleges Potts expressed to a customer a need for white people to "stick together," and notes that he "threw in many racial slurs" during the conversation.

It was retweeted more than 5,500 times and led to dozens of similar postings. Some online shared that Potts has a history of making racially insensitive comments on Pangea Piercing's popular YouTube channel.

Signs making further accusations against Potts and urging potential customers not to patronize the shop were also posted outside the business Thursday.

Reached at his home Thursday evening, Potts adamantly denied being a white supremacist or a racist, saying comments made at the shop and in his videos were taken out of context.

"I have always believed it's wrong to hate someone for the color of their skin, their sex, their gender and all the other things that are beyond a person's control," he said. "It breaks my heart that all this is happening."

Potts said he will be releasing a public statement on his Pangea Piercing YouTube channel soon regarding the accusations.

Due to threats made against him and his employees, the shop will remain closed until further notice, he said.

In one May Youtube video that includes footage of Potts administering piercings for a black woman, he says he engaged the customer in discussion on "challenging topics."

"I like talking about challenging topics," he said. "... We all say at some point or another 'Oh, we all need to have this difficult conversation.' ... But we hardly ever do. Most people are afraid of getting socially ostracized or saying the wrong thing, getting in trouble... Too many of us only want to take the popular stand, or the comfortable position, or what's going to make them look like the most virtuous person out there and stuff like that... Everybody's afraid of losing a sale. Everybody's afraid of losing a dollar... We've pave that road to Hell with good intentions."

Ann Arbor resident Maura Farrell, who's gotten piercings at Pangea in the past, said she wasn't surprised by the allegations, noting she had experienced an awkward exchange with Potts in the past, and would make a point of not entering the business when he was working.

"The one time that we talked, he just kept going on and on about southern values," Farrell said outside the shop Thursday afternoon. "He didn't specifically to me say anything overtly racist or sexist in that, but it was just undercurrents of weird.

"I've heard a lot of behind closed doors talk about him, but I'm glad this is more open now," she added.

Ann Arbor resident John Whittier-Ferguson said he believes Potts has the right to express his views in private, but that customers also have the right to express their displeasure by not giving Pangea business.

"It wasn't like the government intervened and made him (close)," he said. "I have no problem with him posting his horrible (expletive) online and us saying, 'that's not good.'

"I would walk out of the business if he said that to me," he added. "It's not easy to respond to, because that's a huge, horrible thing he's saying to people. Depending on the person, they can more or less feel assaulted by him."

Ypsilanti resident Sophia Fenby said she was happy to see community members speak out by leaving signs on the window of Pangea urging them to not take their business there.

"I'm definitely not comfortable with that at all," Fenby said. "I'm glad to see they're closed. I think it's totally unacceptable and this reaction is totally called for."

MLive reporter Nate Clark contributed to this story.