June 17, 2022
The Biden Administration Justice Department has announced it will not reopen the investigation into the case of Bijan Ghaisar, which the Trump Administration closed two years ago.
The department said in a statement June 10, “There was insufficient evidence to establish a willful violation” of the law, the same position taken under the Trump Administration in 2019.
Many had hoped the Biden Administration would re-open the case and take a different position. But it has not.
The Justice Department explained its logic: “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. 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.”
Park Police officers Lucas Vinyard and Alejandro Amaya shot and killed Ghaisar, 25, of McLean, Virginia, on November 17, 2017, after a brief chase on and off the George Washington Parkway, which runs along the Potomac River on the shore opposite Washington, DC.
In a statement, the Ghaisar family called the department’s decision “a betrayal to our family and to justice.” The Ghaisar family statement went on to say:
“There is frame-by-frame video showing Officers Amaya and Vinyard violently out of control before they gunned down Bijan at close range. 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—the last two shots fired after two bullets had already pierced his head and his Jeep was rolling into a ditch. 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.”
The Ghaisar family and seven members of Congress called on the Justice Department to reopen the investigation last month, saying that the civil lawsuit the family had filed had uncovered evidence that wasn’t available to federal prosecutors in 2019.
Among the new evidence: Robert MacLean, who was chief of the Park Police at the time of the shooting, was asked in a 2020 deposition, “Did you see anything on the video that would constitute a felony that would justify pursuit?”
MacLean answered, “I did not.” He also confirmed the policy held that “fleeing or eluding the police shall not itself be a pursuable offense.”
Daniel Gohn, who was a Fairfax County police officer at the time and saw the shooting, also testified in 2020 that he didn’t see Ghaisar’s Jeep driving erratically, that it was only going slightly over the speed limit, and that at one point in the chase, Ghaisar stopped at a stop sign. He also said one of the Park Police officers banged on the window of Ghaisar’s Jeep with his gun. Gohn later told the FBI, “You don’t do that.”
The officers were charged in a Virginia court with manslaughter. Their case was moved to federal court, where it was dismissed; the judge agreed with the officers that they were covered under the Supremacy Clause, which says that federal officers cannot be prosecuted for state crimes they committed while carrying out their official duties, if the officer “reasonably thought” the actions were necessary and proper.
Ghaisar stopped his car three times while a Park Police cruiser pursued him. Each time after an officer got out of the cruiser, Ghaisar drove off.
At the first stop, Amaya pulled alongside Ghaisar and got out of the patrol vehicle. With his gun drawn, he told Ghaisar to exit his vehicle. Documents showed Ghaisar put his hands over his face when the officers pulled up next to him. Amaya tried to open Ghaisar’s car door to arrest him but it was locked, so he ordered Ghaisar to unlock it.
But Ghaisar took off while Amaya’s hands were still on Ghaisar’s door, court documents said.
At the second stop, Amaya again got out of his vehicle with his gun drawn and yelling commands at Ghaisar, who put his hands over his face. When Amaya tried to open Ghaisar’s car door, Ghaisar again took off.
At the third stop, both Vinyard and Amaya exited the patrol car with guns drawn. Vinyard stood to the left of Ghaisar’s driver-side window, while Amaya was between the patrol car and Ghaisar’s Jeep. Both were shouting commands at Ghaisar.
The document said that Ghaisar’s vehicle lurched forward toward Amaya. Amaya said he feared for his life and fired his gun through the windshield of Ghaisar’s car, which initially stopped but then moved forward again. That’s when both officers fired at Ghaisar.
Ghaisar was taken to a hospital where he died. It was the same hospital where he was born.
According to the police union, the Interior Department began proceedings last year to fire both officers. But no final action has yet been announced.