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Lawyers for Park Police officers in Bijan Ghaisar shooting say charging decision coming soon
Washington,
June 10, 2019
Tags:
Equality
Washington Post |
The lawyers for two U.S. Park Police officers who shot and killed the unarmed motorist Bijan Ghaisar in 2017 said Friday that they expect a decision on charges from the Justice Department within 20 days. If no charges are filed, they said it would clear the way for the government to defend the officers in a civil suit filed by Ghaisar’s family. The comments came in a hearing in federal court in Alexandria, Va., for the lawsuit in which neither officer Alejandro Amaya nor Lucas Vinyard have filed a response since being named as defendants by Ghaisar’s parents in March. The officers’ lawyers were seeking more time to respond, because they expected the Justice Department to clear the officers in the ongoing criminal investigation and then intervene on their behalf in the civil suit, attorney Kobie Flowers said. This was news to Ghaisar’s family, who have had no communication with the FBI or the Justice Department, who are investigating the case. U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) expressed dismay that the government has been sharing information with the subjects of a homicide investigation, but not with the family of the victim. The shooting occurred in the district of Congressman Beyer, who has co-sponsored a bill requiring federal officers to wear body cameras. The Park Police officers did not have body cameras or a camera in their car, but two Fairfax police officers captured the incident on their in-car cameras. The video from one of those officers is below. “For 18 months the FBI and Justice Department have shrouded their investigation of Bijan Ghaisar’s shooting in unacceptable secrecy,” Beyer said in a statement Friday afternoon, "and today’s news is among the most deplorable examples yet. If these facts are correct, government investigators refused to share the most basic details of the incident with Bijan’s parents or to discuss the matter with members of Congress, but then passed inside information about how and when they intend to resolve their investigation solely to the officers involved in the shooting. “How can Bijan’s family or the people in his community possibly trust in the fair outcome of an investigation which unfolds in such a manner?" Beyer asked. "A process this bad cannot help but damage citizens’ faith in their government.” |