YouTuber Jake Paul said he didn't loot or vandalize an Arizona mall after he faced backlash for videos that showed him walking around as it was looted

• YouTuber Jake Paul denied that he participated in looting or vandalism at a mall in Scottsdale, Arizona, on Saturday.
• Paul and his videographer Andrew Blue had made several posts on Instagram that placed them at the mall amid looting and vandalism.
• Paul claimed he was tear-gassed by police and went to the mall to film the situation in an effort to "share our experience and bring more attention to the anger felt in every neighborhood we traveled through."
• Social media users expressed outrage that Paul had even shown up to the mall in the first place, rather than at peaceful protests organized by Black Lives Matter in Phoenix.

YouTuber Jake Paul denied allegations Sunday he participated in looting and vandalism at a Scottsdale, Arizona, shopping mall after social media erupted in anger after he and his associates posted videos of themselves at the mall on Saturday.

According to ABC 15 Arizona, the Scottsdale Fashion Square, located near the Scottsdale, Arizona Waterfront area, erupted into chaos as people were observed causing damage to businesses and restaurants, including an Apple Store and P.F. Chang's. There were also reports that people had looted from stores inside the mall.

On Instagram, both Paul and his videographer, Andrew Blue, posted videos and photos Saturday night inside and near the Scottsdale mall amid the ongoing chaos. While Blue later deleted the videos that showed Paul and a group of his friends walking around the property, videos Paul posted on his account remained up as of Sunday.

In a statement posted to Twitter on Sunday, Paul said neither he nor anyone with him had been involved in any looting or vandalism at the mall.

"For context, we spent the day doing our part to peacefully protest one of the most horrid injustices our country has ever seen, which led us to being tear-gassed for filming the events and brutality that were unfolding in Arizona," Paul said.

While the videos posted by Blue and Paul did not depict the often controversial YouTuber — the younger brother of likewise controversial YouTuber Logan Paul — engaging in any looting or vandalism, some on social media noted it appeared liquor apparently looted from the P.F. Chang's eventually made its way into Paul's hands.

Paul on Saturday night claimed that he had been tear-gassed by police officers and that his eyes were bleeding.

"A bunch of f---ing idiots, bro. Look at that, I walked right up to there," Paul said, gesturing to the sidewalk near a large plume of smoke and what appeared to be a crowd of police officers. "These f---ing idiots tear-gassed me. I ain't doing s--- bro. Look at them pointing guns at me right now."

As The Washington Post's Abby Ohlheiser reported in 2017, Paul has previously faced accusations of using other disaster situations, like that years' Hurricane Harvey, to create content for his YouTube channel.

Reaction to Paul's presence at the mall was swift and negative, prompting his Sunday apology. Many pointed out that Paul was a millionaire, and wondered why he would participate in looting. As Business Insider previously noted, Paul's most recent estimated net worth is $11.5 million, according to Forbes' 2017 list of the highest-paid YouTube celebrities.

"i repeat F--- JAKE PAUL he's a millionaire looting while people are outside protesting, getting shot with rubber bullets, teargas, beat by cops etc," one person wrote in a tweet that has received more than 31,000 retweets and 88,000 likes.

Prominent YouTubers also criticized Paul.

"f--- you @jakepaul," fellow YouTube star Tyler Oakley wrote in a Sunday tweet.

Others were angry that Paul seemed to gravitate toward the looting instead of a protest organized by Black Lives Matter in Pheonix, which was largely peaceful, according to a report from the Associated Press.

"Jake Paul came to my state last night to not peacefully protest in downtown (where it was organized by BLM) but went directly to the looting in Scottsdale and brazenly bragged about it on his socials," Arizona-based DJ Ghastly wrote.

In a message posted to his Instagram story early Sunday, Blue claimed that it was his job to "document virtually everything" and that the group that went to the mall were attempting to "use our platform to raise awareness about this horrific event."

A petition calling for the arrest of Paul and Tanner Fox, a fellow YouTuber who was reportedly present at the Scottsdale mall, has received more than 1,900 signatures as of Sunday afternoon.

Neither Paul nor Blue returned Insider's requests for comment on Sunday.