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Sussman and his son were eventually approached by two security guards, who asked him to remove the shirt or leave the property, citing the mall’s prohibition on gang paraphernalia.

Sussman refused. In an interview, he said he supports the motorcycle club for protecting him from an assailant in the 1960s. He picked up the shirt at the Hells Angels’ club house in Westridge, where he attends social functions at least a few times a year.

Additional security guards eventually arrived as Sussman exited a pet store. He locked arms with his son, but the guards managed to take him to the ground and handcuff him. Sussman was taken to the mall security office, where he spent several hours in a holding cell. His son was escorted off the property.

Police eventually arrived to deal with the mall’s trespassing complaint against Sussman. Sussman claims he told the police officers he wished to make an assault complaint against the security guards, but that they refused to provide him with a complaint form or investigate his allegations.

Sussman was released later that day without charges.

Sussman claims the mall had no publicly posted dress code in 2016, and that the guards acted arbitrarily (WEM’s dress code, posted on its website, prohibits gang-affiliated clothing).

“They (can) simply tell you to take your clothes off whenever they feel like it, I guess, and assault you if you refuse,” he said in an interview this week. “And the police don’t care.”