Articles

After 660 Days, Bijan Ghaisar’s Family Still Waiting For Answers On Death By Park Police

BY BARBARA SPRUNT - 09/17/2019

A group of demonstrators, including the family of Bijan Ghaisar, stood outside the Department of the Interior Monday morning to protest the promotion of Robert MacLean.

Monday was MacLean’s first day at his new job as director of the Interior Department’s Office of Law Enforcement and Security. MacLean led the Park Police since 2013 prior to his new role.

During that time, two Park Police officers fatally shot unarmed motorist Bijan Ghaisar in Fairfax County, Virginia, in November, 2017. 

Ghaisar’s family has been waiting since then, nearly two years, for answers.

After Bijan Ghaisar was killed, MacLean’s detectives began a homicide investigation but three days later, gave the case to the FBI to investigate. The two officers who fired at Ghaisar were put on administrative leave.

MacLean was criticized for not providing details or updates on the investigation, although in an interview with Fox5 in August, he said he explained his decision to let the FBI investigate to the Ghaisar family.

Kelly Ghaisar, Bijan’s mother, says she is outraged MacLean has been promoted to a top law enforcement job. She says he should have been fired, not promoted.

“I feel like at the beginning there were two criminals who shot my son,” she says. “Now, we have a criminal system because this delay by itself is criminal.”

She says MacLean’s promotion is one of the most “disrespectful” things the government could have done to her family while they still wait for answers.

Joining her at the protest was Congressman Don Beyer, D-Va, who has publicly supported the Ghaisar family.

In a statement to WAMU, Congressman Beyer says, “It is deeply hurtful that [MacLean] is getting a promotion as the department he leads remains clouded in a stunning lack of transparency. I joined the Ghaisars… to protest this injustice and to show that Members of Congress still care deeply about seeing justice done in this case.”

A DOI spokesperson responded to a request for comment with this statement: “Chief MacLean is a twenty-eight-year veteran of the U.S. Park Police with a stellar record protecting our most symbolic monuments and memorials and the visitors to them. He is proud of the partnerships he has forged that have focused on the mutual law enforcement mission that transcends organization jurisdiction and structure.”

The Ghaisar family is planning on holding a vigil for their son on the anniversary of his death on Nov. 17 in D.C.