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Washington Post: Pain still prominent two years after police shooting death of Bijan Ghaisar

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 charge the two officers who killed him?

The answer was a loud and emphatic no from the family of Bijan Ghaisar, his friends and other supporters who gathered Sunday at the Lincoln Memorial to mark the second anniversary of Ghaisar’s shooting. They also denounced the Justice Department’s decision on Thursday to not file federal civil rights charges against the two U.S. Park Police officers who killed Ghaisar, and they vowed to continue a push for answers in the Nov. 17, 2017, slaying in a residential neighborhood of Fairfax County.

 

“I do not expect any of you to imagine the pain and suffering we have endured from this tragedy so far,” said a tearful James Ghaisar, Bijan Ghaisar’s father. “Still, I have kept my hope that in the imaginary democracy we live in, there would be justice. But I was wrong.”

Negeen Ghaisar, Bijan Ghaisar’s sister, led chants of “This is not over!” as her family continues to push for information in the case, whether through their own civil suit against the officers, an internal Park Police investigation or a possible state court prosecution in Fairfax. “We are just getting started. You have murdered Bijan. You have repeatedly killed our family. You have brutalized our community. You still haven’t given us any answers. This is not over.”

Though the shooting happened in Fairfax County, the Park Police exercised their federal jurisdiction in Northern Virginia and took over the investigation. After three days, they passed the case to the FBI to have “an objective, outside partner” investigate the case, then-Park Police Chief Robert MacLean said. MacLean has since been promoted to head of all law enforcement agencies in the Interior Department.

On Thursday, the Justice Department sent a letter to the Ghaisars telling them that Vinyard and Amaya would not be charged with a federal civil rights violation. “We are unable to prove beyond a reasonable doubt,” James Felte of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Section and T. Patrick Martin of the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington wrote, “that the officers did not perceive a deadly threat, even if that perception was mistaken or the result of poor judgment.”

The letter did not say whether Vinyard or Amaya had been interviewed or describe their version of events. U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu refused to answer questions about the case during a news conference Friday, and U.S. Attorney Zachary Terwilliger, of the eastern district of Virginia, declined to say why his office bowed out of the case and handed it to Liu.

Vinyard and Amaya have been on administrative duty with pay for the past two years, and the Park Police waited to start their internal investigation until after the criminal case was completed. Though the officers were not required to speak to criminal investigators, they will be required to give statements to Park Police internal investigators. The two officers have not spoken publicly about the incident, and declined requests for comment last week. They are facing a civil suit from the Ghaisars in federal court in Alexandria, in which they have claimed they fired in self-defense.

The letter declining federal criminal civil rights charges noted that it did not preclude other authorities from pursuing the case. The newly elected Fairfax County prosecutor, Steve Descano, who takes office in January, declined to say whether he would review the shooting for possible state charges, and Ghaisar’s family on Sunday urged him to pick up the case.

Politicians on both sides of the aisle quickly denounced the decision Thursday by the Justice Department and Liu to not charge the officers. Some attended Sunday’s rally, including D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) and Virginia Reps. Don Beyer (D) and Jennifer Wexton (D).

“Shame on the U.S. attorney for the District, Jessie K. Liu,” Norton said. “She has refused to prosecute … The difference is we will not let Bijan’s case end right here.”

Said Wexton: “Oh no, this is not over. This is not justice. We will not rest until we have justice for Bijan. We are all Bijan."