Colleen Grablick
The Justice Department announced Friday that it will not reopen the federal investigation into the killing of Bijan Ghaisar, who was fatally shot by U.S. Park Police during a traffic stop in 2017.
The family of Ghaisar, an accountant who lived in Fairfax County, asked the Justice Department to prosecute the officers last month, after the new Virginia Attorney General, Jason Miyares, dropped the state’s federal appeal, effectively ending the criminal prosecution of the two officers: Lucas Vinyard and Alejandro Amaya.
On Nov. 17, 2017, Ghaisar, then 25, was rear-ended on the George Washington Parkway. After leaving the scene, Vinyard and Amaya pursued Ghaisar into a residential neighborhood of Fairfax County. Dash-cam video released by the Fairfax County Police shows the officers firing at him multiple times as his car slowly moved away from them. Ghaisar died in the hospital 10 days later.
“To prevail under the federal civil rights statute, the Justice Department must prove that an officer, acting under color of law, willfully used unreasonable force,” reads a statement from the Justice Department. “To establish willfulness, federal authorities must show that the officer acted with the deliberate and specific intent to do something the law forbids. This is one of the highest standards of intent imposed by law. Mistake, misperception, negligence, or poor judgment are not sufficient to establish a federal criminal civil rights violation.”
In a statement on Friday, Ghaisar’s family said the Justice Department’s decision was a “betrayal to our family and to justice.”
“This was not poor judgment or negligence, this was a willful, deadly escalation of excessive violence by two federal law enforcement officers who shot 10 times at Bijan,” reads the statement. “This devastating outcome is made worse by the Department’s callous treatment of our family, never once granting our requests for meetings or information about the investigation into our son’s murder.”
A group of Democratic Virginia lawmakers, including representatives Don Beyer, Jennifer Wexton, and Gerry Connolly, and senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine issued a statement denouncing the decision on Friday. D.C. Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton also signed the statement.
“Nearly five years after he was killed, Bijan’s family, friends, and community still are no closer to an understanding of how the events of that night could justify his being shot to death by police,” reads the statement. “We are thinking of the Ghaisar family today, and will continue to stand with them in their pursuit of justice.”
The Justice Department’s current stance mirrors its position in 2019, when, under the leadership of William Barr, it declined to charge the officers. In 2020, the officers were indicted by Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano, and the current Virginia Attorney General, Mark Herring, joined the case. At the officers’ request, the case was moved to a federal court in 2021, where a federal judge later dismissed all criminal charges. After Miyares dismissed the state’s appeal, Ghaisar’s family and seven congressmembers asked the Justice Department, now under the control of Biden-appointed Merrick Garland, to revisit the case in light of new evidence that had emerged, and previous support from Garland. In June 2021, Garland reversed a Trump-era ruling, and allowed FBI agents to cooperate with prosecutors in the Virginia case.
But according to the Justice Department’s statement on Friday, Kristen Clarke, the Assistant Attorney General for the civil rights division Kristen Clarke concluded that, even after reviewing new evidence, prosecutors do “not have an adequate basis to reopen its prior investigation.”
In an interview with DCist/WAMU in April, after the Virginia case dropped, Ghaisar’s mother, Kelly Ghaisar, said the family is planning a celebration to mark Bijan’s birthday this September. He would’ve turned 30.
This post was updated with a statement from local lawmakers.
Previously
Federal Judge Dismisses All Charges Against Park Police Officers Who Killed Bijan Ghaisar In Fairfax
Case Against Officers Who Killed Bijan Ghaisar Moved To Federal Court
Park Police Officers Who Shot Unarmed Driver In 2017 Won’t Face Charges
