On November 17, 2017, Bijan C. Ghaisar, a 25-year-old American, was fatally shot by US Park Police after a vehicular chase that followed a traffic collision along the George Washington Memorial Parkway in Northern Virginia. Ghaisar was unarmed and died ten days later in a hospital. The shooting is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
USDC of the Eastern Division of Virginia (Alexandria)
U.S. District Judge Claude M. Hilton
James and Kelara Ghaisar, the parents of the slain Virginia driver,
the federal government and the then-unnamed officers.
Attorney Roy Austin
The officers involved in the shooting were named as
Lucas Vinyard and Alejandro Amaya
Two days before the second anniversary of the incident it was announced that the two Park Police officers would not be charged. In December 2019 Fairfax prosecutors announced that they would seek an indictment for the killing that occurred in their jurisdiction but the assumption of a new prosecutor to that office has resulted in further review
The FBI handled the criminal investigation into the shooting. More than 22 months later, no decision has been made by the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu on whether to file criminal charges. Amaya, 39, and Vinyard, 38, remain on paid administrative duty, the Park Police said, with no internal investigation beginning until after the criminal ruling is made. MacLean began a new job this week as head of law enforcement agencies within the Interior Department, including the Park Police. Ghaisar’s parents staged a protest outside his office Monday.
The Cover-Up
The civil action, filed in federal court in Alexandria, adds several new details to the narrative of the police-involved slaying, including a claim that it took 15 minutes for an ambulance to reach Ghaisar, instead of the previously reported 11 minutes. It also includes that, at the hospital, then-Park Police Chief Robert MacLean told family members that he could not tell them anything and they could not record their conversation with him. And Inova Health Group sent the Ghaisars a bill for $71,000 for the 10 days of care rendered to the comatose shooting victim.
Legislative response
In January 2018, DC Congressional representative Eleanor Holmes Norton introduced a bill to require uniformed federal police officers to wear body cameras and have dashboard cameras in marked vehicles. The legislation was directly in response to Ghaisar's death. Park Police Chief Robert MacLean backed out of a scheduled meeting with Holmes Norton to discuss the matter, prompting Holmes Norton to make a statement to "express our astonishment" at his absence.
Following the release of the video, Virginia Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, and Congressman Don Beyer called on the FBI for more transparency. Beyer requested a meeting with FBI Director Christopher A. Wray, who refused. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke refused requests to release the names of the Park Police involved in the shooting.[22]
In multiple letters to the FBI, Senator Chuck Grassley requested information about the killing. Three months after his first letter, the FBI provided a short response that offered no new information and said the matter remained under investigation.
Following the November 2019 announcement that Vinyard and Amaya would not be charged for their actions, Don Beyer said that announcement was "not justice". Grassley and Warner issued a statement expressing disapproval. DC Delegate Norton, Representative Beyer, and Representative Jennifer Wexton, called for the release of 911 tapes related to the shooting. Norton said that she believes US Park Police violated their department policies during the incident
https://www.washingtonpost.com/crime-law/2019/09/20/family-bijan-ghaisar-killed-by-park-police-officers-refiles-suit-vs-us/
https://www.themarshallproject.org/records/5291-bijan-ghaisar
Judges Comments
District Judge Claude M. Hilton agreed and dismissed the government out of the suit in January but allowed the officers to remain as defendants. Judge Hilton protects the hand that pays him