Shooting of Bijan Ghaisar


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. The officers involved in the shooting were named as Lucas Vinyard and Alejandro Amaya in an amended filing of the lawsuit brought by the family of Ghaisar, filed February 28, 2019 in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. A video of the shooting was released by Fairfax County Police, who had assisted with the chase. The Park Police officers claimed that they acted in self defense, firing ten shots into Ghaisar's vehicle as it slowly rolled away. Two days before the second anniversary of the incident it was announced that the two Park Police officers would not be charged, though in December 2019 Fairfax prosecutors announced that they would seek an indictment for the killing that occurred in their jurisdiction.

Persons involved

Ghaisar was traveling southbound along the George Washington Memorial Parkway in Alexandria City to his parents' house for dinner. While driving a Jeep Grand Cherokee, he was hit from behind by an Uber driver, driving a Toyota Corolla and with a female passenger in the back seat. The driver and the passenger both reported the incident to 911. According to a report of the accident, Ghaisar pulled away without giving his information to the Uber driver, an action that would have been a misdemeanor. A lookout for his vehicle was announced and a Park Police car followed in pursuit with Fairfax County Police assisting. Ghaisar stopped his vehicle and was approached by a Park Police officer with his gun drawn. As Ghaisar drove off, the officer banged on the car with the gun, dropping his weapon. The pursuit continued at 57 miles per hour, in a zone that had a 50-mile-per-hour limit.
Ghaisar stopped a third time in the Fort Hunt area. Park Police parked a vehicle in front of Ghaisar's Jeep to prevent him from fleeing again. As his vehicle rolled away, Park Police fired ten shots in three different bursts. It was initially reported that there were nine shots fired, but after almost two years the FBI clarified that there were 10 shots. All four fatal shots were fired by the officer who was driving during the pursuit.
Following the shooting, Bijan Ghaisar was hospitalized for ten days in intensive care. His family was denied complete access to him by the Park Police while he was in the hospital. He died ten hours after he was taken off a respirator on November 27, 2017.

Aftermath

In January 2018, Fairfax Police released a five-minute video of the chase filmed from one of their vehicles. Fairfax police were involved in the chase but not in the investigation.
The shooting was being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which has not released any information about the case. The probe was being overseen by the Department of Justice. Seven months after the shooting, FBI crime scene investigators returned to the intersection with agents using metal detectors to search for additional evidence.
The Ghaisar family planned protests trying to draw more attention to their son's plight and that few details were released. In August 2018, the Ghaisar family filed a lawsuit for $25 million.
Signs erected on the spot of the shooting have been taken down multiple times. After a sign that read "One year, zero answers" was removed twice, a larger and sturdier sign was constructed near the stop-sign where Ghaisar had been shot. This sign had permission from the landowner to be erected there and was built with the help of a Virginian state congressman. It was, however, also removed by persons unknown.

Park Police

The Park Police have limited jurisdiction in 5 states, including the Maryland and Virginia counties that surround Washington DC plus the city of Alexandria, Virginia, but have no authority to follow a vehicle outside their jurisdiction unless a felony has been committed. According to Park Police policy, lethal force can be used only when there is "imminent danger of death or serious bodily harm" and that “Officers shall not fire at a moving vehicle nor fire from a moving vehicle except when the officer has a reasonable belief that the subject poses an imminent danger of death or serious physical injury to the officer or to another person.”
Park Police have provided almost no information about the incident. According to a lawsuit filed by the family, it was twelve hours following the incident before the family learned that Park Police were involved. Two days after the shooting, Park Police Chief Robert MacLean met with the family. MacLean offered condolences but provided no information about what had happened.
The Ghaisar family was not allowed to touch their son for three days following the incident, when he was guarded by the department’s officers. According to the family, when a doctor arrived to examine Ghaisar for organ donation, the Park Police denied access, declaring the brain-dead man "under arrest" and his body "evidence".
For 16 months, Park Police refused to identify the officers involved in the shooting, who were assigned to administrative duties. Park Police said that the two officers involved were first placed on paid leave and then placed on administrative duty with pay. In response to a wrongful death lawsuit by the family, Park Police identified the shooters as officers Alejandro Amaya and Lucas Vinyard.
In June 2019, the officers made a court appearance in the civil lawsuit and claimed they acted in self defense. The officers invoked Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination. The officers sought to deny that they were federal agents operating under federal law, as police officers often have greater legal protection.
More than two years after the killing, Park Police had not launched an internal investigation into the matter or released recordings of the 911 calls the Park Police received. The 911 call was initially fielded by Arlington’s public safety communications center, the recording of which has been made available, and transferred to the Park Police, who are keeping the call secret.
In December 2019, Fairfax county prosecutors announced that the would seek an indictment for the two officers responsible for shooting Ghaisar and had tried to empanel a grand jury. Testimony was delayed as the FBI considered whether its officers could testify in the proceedings.

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.
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.