The two officers involved in the 2017 Fairfax County shooting of 25-year-old Bijan Ghaisar acted reasonably and have been cleared, an Interior Department investigation finds.
Lucas Vinyard and Alejandro Amaya followed U.S. Park Police policy in all but one case as they pursued the McLean man’s Jeep after a fender bender on the George Washington Memorial Parkway.
The 35-page inspector general’s report concluded it was fair for the officers to believe the accountant had committed a felony by leaving the accident scene.
The officer fired 10 shots at the unarmed motorist four seconds after getting out of their vehicle, on November 17, 2017.
“We concluded that the officers’ use of deadly force did not violate the USPP’s use of force policy because a preponderance of the evidence established that both officers reasonably believed that Ghaisar posed an imminent danger of death or serious bodily harm” to one of the officers, the report said.
The investigation did find that one of the officers violated policy when he struck Ghaisar’s vehicle with his service weapon.
Both officers have been on paid leave since being charged with manslaughter in Fairfax County in 2020. A federal judge dismissed those charges in 2021. The officers are suing the Interior Department to avoid getting fired.
Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, along with Rep. Don Beyer, issued a joint statement, saying that U.S. Park Police policy at the time of the Ghaisar’s shooting was outdated:
“The death of Bijan Ghaisar remains a great tragedy. Despite the OIG’s findings that the officers who killed Bijan Ghaisar did not seemingly violate written U.S. Park Police policy and procedure in place at the time, it’s clear this incident should never have occurred. U.S. Park Police policy at the time of Bijan’s killing was outdated and inconsistent with the goal of safeguarding lives. This report — which we first requested more than two years ago — underscores that these officers’ actions would not have been acceptable under the DOI guidelines that govern vehicular pursuits today. As we approach the seven-year anniversary of Bijan’s death, we will continue to urge DOI to put policies in place to ensure that investigations around use of force incidents are handled with greater urgency and transparency.”
Ghaisar’s mother told WTOP that it was cruel to release the report just days before the seventh anniversary of her son’s death. Kelly Ghaisar told The Washington Post the officers should never have pursued her son on a felony charge.
The federal government paid the Ghaisar family a $5 million settlement to end their suit against the Park Police. The family has since set up a foundation to lobby against qualified immunity for police officers in fatal shootings.
Feature image by Casimiro/stock.adobe.com
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