Youtube star Jake Paul is facing backlash after he was recorded amongst a group looters at an Arizona shopping mall.
Cell phone footage showed Paul, 23, wearing a face mask while with demonstrators at the Fashion Square Mall in Scottsdale.
He is first spotted outside the Fashion Square Mall as protestors appear to shoot fireworks at the building’s entrance.
Later, Paul films a group of police officers stationed at the mall to curb any looting or violence during protests over the death of George Floyd.
Youtube star Jake Paul (left) was spotted outside the Fashion Square Mall in Scottsdale, Arizona, on Saturday night
‘Bunch of f****** idiots, bro,’ he says. The caption on the video reads ‘American is in ruins.’
He claims to have walked on a sidewalk near the officers who allegedly teargassed him.
‘Literally I walked right here, right up to there. these f****** idiots teargassed me. I ain’t doing s***, bro. Look at them pointing guns at me,’ Paul said.
Demonstrators outside the Fashion Square Mall appeared to shoot fireworks at the entrance (pictured)
‘Look at them. Twenty guns on me. Twenty guns on me right now,’ he adds before saying ‘Rest in Peace, George Floyd’ and flipping his middle finger at the officers.
At some point, demonstrators appear to break into the Fashion Square Mall by damaging the entrance of a P.F. Changs restaurant.
Footage then cuts to Paul and group of friends inside the mall as looters break into stores.
Paul (left) said in a later statement that he was in Arizona to fight police brutality and protest the death of George Floyd
Paul was recorded near a group of Arizona officers who allegedly threw tear gas at people
After the entrance of a P.F. Chang’s was damaged, footage showed Paul (center) and and others inside the Fashion Square Mall after hours
After two people attempt to shatter the storefront of a Swarovski jewelry store, Paul laughs as he sprints out of the mall with his friends.
Neither Paul, nor his friends appear to take anything from inside the mall.
The videos, shared to Instagram by Andrew Blue, Paul’s videographer and photographer, have since been sparked backlash on social media.
Paul was initially accused of being a looter himself, which outraged those who pointed out Paul’s status as a multimillionaire.
In 2017, Paul was ranked as one of the highest paid Youtube celebrities by Forbes with a net worth of $11.5million.
People were also upset over the trivializing the George Floyd protests and Black Lives Matter movement for new video content.
‘Jake Paul, a millionaire going out on the streets to destroy shops, cars etc while filming everything for new youtube content. He’s part of the problem,’ said one user.
‘I am so f******angry [about] scottsdale fashion square being looted…jake paul + his other rich white friends are capitalizing off of this for attention + notoriety while doing nothing to support the actual movement,’ another wrote.
Some people took offense to allegations that Paul was looting stores because of his status as a multimillionaire
Others worried the move would trivialize the George Floyd protests and Black Lives Matter movement
On Sunday, Paul released a statement that claimed he was not involved in any looting and was in the area for protests
Paul released a statement that dismissed accusations against him.
‘To be absolutely clear, neither I nor anyone in our group was engaged in any looting or vandalism,’ wrote Paul.
‘For context, we spent the day doing our part to peacefully protest one of the most horrific injustices our country has ever seen, which led to use being tear-gassed for filming the events and brutality that were unfolding in Arizona.
‘We were gassed and forced to keep moving on foot. We filmed everything we saw in an effort to share our experience and bring more attention to the anger felt in every neighborhood we traveled through; we were strictly documenting, not engaging.’
Paul added that he does not condone ‘violence, looting, or breaking the law.’
Blue also denied the allegations against him and Paul in a statement released Saturday afternoon.
He wrote: Just for clarity, I am a videographer and my job is to document virtually everything. We were strictly documenting the situation and doing our part to use our platform to raise awareness about the horrific event and overall injustice.
‘Nobody with us was looting or vandalizing, bit it certainly was tragic to see and while we understand the frustration, we don’t condone or support any behavior like that.’