Clerk hides as man yelling racist slurs ransacks gas station, Oregon official says
A man accused of berating a Portland gas station clerk with “racial hate speech” and damaging property inside the business has been charged with multiple crimes, according to a news release from the Multnomah County District Attorney.
Following his involvement in a disturbance outside the gas station Friday night, Brian Miller allegedly started yelling racial slurs at the employee — a Muslim from Afghanistan — that were “based on his perception of the victim’s religion, national origin and his race,” the release says.
The victim then began recording the attack, according to the release.
A YouTube video cited by local media allegedly shows Miller attacking the person holding the camera, who is identified by KGW as the employee. The district attorney could not confirm the video showed the same incident.
“Is that how we do things in America Afghan?” Miller allegedly said in the video, according to KOIN. “Al Qaeda? Osama? Is it?”
The victim, who the news station identified as the store’s owner, had to hide in a storage area and call 911 as Miller advanced on him, according to the release.
“Without any provocation, Miller entered the employee-only area behind the counter and walked quickly towards the victim,” the release says.
Miller is also accused of “[taking] merchandise while either using or threatening the immediate use of physical force against the victim,” according to the release.
Portland police officers arrested Miller at the scene and booked him into the Multnomah County Detention Center, the release says. He was released on his own recognizance, according to the release.
Miller is charged with three counts of first-degree bias crime and three counts of second-degree bias crime. Bias crime is more commonly known as hate crime.
Other charges against Miller include first-degree burglary, second-degree burglary, second-degree disorderly conduct, second-degree criminal mischief, second-degree criminal trespass, menacing, third-degree robbery and third-degree theft.
“To have the wherewithal to [record] in such fear and terror and panic — it was fortunate we were able to capture this because what would the situation be if it weren’t captured on video,” said Seemab Hussaini, the vice chair for the Oregon Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), according to KGW. “You have an immigrant family that arrived here in the early 80’s. You feel less American when you’re treated like an other.”
This story was originally published January 26, 2021 at 4:05 PM with the headline "Clerk hides as man yelling racist slurs ransacks gas station, Oregon official says."