Surveillance video from a South Miami-Dade convenience store, released for the first time Friday evening, shows clearly why two clerks were charged with killing customer Akil Oliver in November -- and has renewed a sense of outrage among members of the victim's African-American community.
Footage shows that though a heated argument ensued after Akil Oliver shortchanged Quick Stop clerks by seven cents, Oliver had gone back outside the store - and was no longer an imminent threat – when the pair of employees beat him with a crowbar and bottle and left him bleeding on the sidewalk.
A viewing of the unedited video at the 2nd Baptist Church in Richmond Heights Friday night evoked an angry reaction from neighbors and African-American community leaders.
"I cannot find words to express my outrage at what I saw," said Dr. Marvin Dunn, an FIU psychologist who is rarely at a loss for words.
"It was senseless," said Pastor Ron Smith.
Ragheb Sulaiman, 24, has been charged with second degree murder for beating Oliver with a crowbar. 19-year-old Nabil Sulaiman was charged with aggravated battery, was released on bond, and then fled the country, further inflaming the situation.
Leaders present at the screening were angry at the clerks. But they were also angry at the lack of compassion shown in the video by black bystanders, several of whom watched the fatal beating before stepping around Oliver’s body and went inside to make purchases.
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Speaking to the assembly after surveilance tape was screened, several pastors suggested black customers should never be giving their money to owners of a store who, in their view, value the life of a black man so little.
Oliver’s own family, the pastors said, describe him as "no angel." But they say he never deserved to be beaten to death that night. The video shows Oliver chatting with friends and strangers alike, and offering his place in line to a woman in a hurry.
"He was in a good mood!" said Pastor Alphonso Jackson.
The surveillance video also gives black community leaders the blurry images of witnesses who have yet to come forward. They plan to distribute the images in the hope finding those witnesses who can support the prosecutors in their charges against the two clerks.
The video also shows a black female corrections officer who just happened to be in the store at the time of the assault. She initially tried to intervene, but threw up her hands and backed away when the violence escalated.
While the woman was the only person at the store who gave Oliver medical aid – she administered CPR after his pulse disappeared – she never called police or 911. And she was seen almost casually reentering the store to buy alcohol with which to clean her hands of Oliver’s blood.
Frequent protests outside the Quick Shop have slowed black customer support but have not ended it.
"We didn’t organize this to incite a riot," said Pastor Jackson of the showing of the video. "We organized this to make you mad enough not to go out and do something but to make you mad enough to make a change."
The four video cameras released do not show the actual beating, although at one point arms can be seen flailing in a corner of the video.
Still, Oliver’s family members present in the audience excused themselves before the tape was shown.
