Beyer, Surovell to speak at rally for man shot by Park Police on Fort Hunt Road

An image from December’s protest at the (Courtesy of We are Bijan)

Rep. Don Beyer and State Sen. Scott Surovell will both speak at a protest this weekend in Washington D.C.  held by friends and family of Bijan Ghaisar, who was shot by Park Police on Fort Hunt Road last November.

The protest will be held at the Department of Justice at 2 p.m. on Saturday. Organizers say attendees will be demanding transparency from the FBI in the investigation into the killing of Ghaisar, who died 10 days after being shot by two officers. No charges have been filed yet in the case.

Surovell, who lives in walking distance to the site of the shooting, has twice written to the FBI seeking more information about the shooting. He said he is disappointed and angry that the investigation has dragged on with little information released to the public.

“I do not know why it is taking so long because no one will give me any information after repeated requests,” Surovell said. “If this were any other shooting, the charging decision would have been made within one week and many of the facts would have been out there within forty-eight hours.”

Thursday marks six months since Ghaisar, a 25-year-old accountant who lived in McLean, was shot. Sunday’s protest will be the third the family has organized since Ghaisar was killed.

“Exactly 6 months ago, Bijan was shot at nine times. He should never have been fired at in the first place,” the family said in a statement on Facebook. “Bijan’s grandfather is a retired police officer. Bijan respected law enforcement. As far as we’re concerned, all good cops at the United States Park Police should be forthcoming and condemn the actions of bad cops. Silence is not acceptable.”

Many questions remain

Since the night of the shooting, the Park Police and FBI have released little information about the events that took place that evening. It is known that Ghaisar was in a minor car accident on the GW Parkway north of Old Town Alexandria, but left the scene. Park Police later spotted his Jeep Grand Cherokee near the intersection of Belle Haven Road and began pursuing him south on the Parkway.

In-car camera video released in January by the Fairfax County Police — who assisted the Park Police in the pursuit but were not involved in the shooting — shows Ghaisar stopping three times during the course of the pursuit. It was after stopping the third time that officers opened fire.

The Park Police have not released the names of the officers involved in the shooting, nor have they made a statement about why the officers opened fire on Ghaisar. Park Police officers are not equipped with body cameras, nor do their vehicles have cameras.

Arlington County has not released audio of the 911 calls related to the initial fender bender, despite a FOIA request from attorneys representing the Ghaisar family.

Beyer, who was an early critic about the lack of transparency in the case, has been rebuffed in repeated requests to meet with FBI officials and have the 911 tapes released.

Surovell said that no family should be “left in the dark for this long about information relating to the death of their loved one,” and noted that this isn’t the first time a police shooting in the area has been shrouded in secrecy.

“There has also been a history of slow and opaque law enforcement shooting investigations in Northern Virginia that needs to change,” Surovell said. “While our police have a difficult job to perform and put their lives on the line every day to protect our communities, they also have a responsibility to only use deadly force judiciously. The public deserves to know whether this was a justified incident sooner rather than later.”