August 06, 2021
US Attorney General Merrick Garland, in a break from his predecessors in the Trump Administration, is allowing federal agents to cooperate with local prosecutors pursuing manslaughter charges against two US Park Police officers who fatally shot Iranian-American Bijan Ghaisar after a stop-and-go automobile chase in 2017.
In a June 1 letter, Garland said the federal government “will share with the Commonwealth [of Virginia] all appropriate information and evidence” in the investigation into the death of Ghaisar.
Garland’s letter is the latest twist in a nearly four-year legal saga following the shooting death of Ghaisar, 25. Federal authorities investigated the shooting for two years and revealed little of what they found; they ultimately decided against filing criminal charges against the two officers who shot Ghaisar, Lucas Vinyard and Alejandro Amaya.
Fairfax County, Virginia, prosecutors then launched their own investigation. In October 2020, a Fairfax County grand jury indicted the pair on charges of involuntary manslaughter reckless use of a firearm.
But lawyers for the officers had the case pulled out of local court and moved to federal court. They argue that the Constitution provides the federal officers immunity from the state charges.
Garland’s letter makes no mention of pursuing federal charges, but cooperation from federal agents could make it easier for local officers to build their case.
The next step in the case is a hearing in August on whether to dismiss the county charges on the argument that federal officers cannot be charged in a state court if their actions were “necessary and proper.”