Equality

Pain still prominent two years after police shooting death of Bijan Ghaisar BY TOM JACKMAN - 11/17/2019  Do two years dull the pain of losing a child? Do the tears flow less easily, two years after learning that your son was shot by police, followed by 10 days of watching him in an irreversible coma, his death, a video showing the shooting, and then a decision to not… Read more »

Justice Department Closes Investigation Into US Park Police Fatal Shooting of Bijan Ghaisar BY MATTHEW STABLEY - 11/14/2019 The Justice Department won't seek federal criminal civil rights charges against U.S. Park Police officers who shot and killed 25-year-old Bijan Ghaisar two years ago on the George Washington Parkway. The unarmed Ghaisar died 10 days after being shot multiple… Read more »

'This is not justice': Officers won't face charges in fatal shooting of VCU graduate Bijan Ghaisar BY TOM JACKMAN - 11/14/2019 The two U.S. Park Police officers who fatally shot unarmed motorist Bijan Ghaisar in 2017 will not be charged with any crimes in connection with the incident, federal prosecutors said Thursday. The decision came just days before the second anniversary of the… Read more »

U.S. Representative Don Beyer (D-VA) and House Natural Resources Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ) today wrote to Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt seeking a briefing on “unresolved questions that were raised” by the shooting of unarmed 25-year-old Bijan Ghaisar by U.S. Park Police. Their letter came a day after the Justice Department closed its two-year investigation of the shooting… Read more »

Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Congressman Don Beyer (D-VA), and Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton (D-VA) released a letter today urging the U.S. Park Police to open an internal investigation into the killing of Bijan Ghaisar.  Yesterday, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced it would not pursue legal action against the officers who shot and killed Ghaisar.  They… Read more »

U.S. Representative Don Beyer (D-VA) today issued the following statement on the Justice Department’s announcement that it would close the investigation into the November 17, 2017 killing of 25-year-old Northern Virginia accountant Bijan Ghaisar by U.S. Park Police without filing criminal charges: “This is not justice. “The Justice Department failed our community for two years by… Read more »

Over Half Of Religious Bias Crimes Target Jews, FBI Says In New Report BY ASHER STOCKLER - 11/12/2019 Almost 60 percent of hate crimes based on religious bias were motivated by anti-Semitism, the FBI reported on Tuesday as part of its annual Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program. In 2018, the year covered by the FBI's most recent report, 57.8 percent of religious bias offenses… Read more »

Today, U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Congressman Don Beyer (D-Va.) introduced a new tax proposal to help close the gap between the wealthy and everyone else, and raise significant revenue to make new investments that will grow the economy and protect working families. Their “Millionaires Surtax” would apply an additional 10-percentage point tax to incomes above $2 million for… Read more »

Rep. Don Beyer, author of the NO HATE Act, today issued the following statement on the FBI’s release of hate crime statistics for 2018:   “This report on hate crime statistics unfortunately underscores again the dire need for a stronger and more comprehensive national strategy to fight hate. The rise in bias crimes against large groups of Americans sadly reflects what we keep… Read more »

Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) and Congressman Don Beyer (D-VA) applauded the Department of Justice (DOJ) announcement yesterday of a pilot program for body-worn cameras by federally deputized task force officers.  Under the new pilot program, “federally deputized task force officers [will] use body-worn cameras while serving arrests warrants, or other planned… Read more »