Beyer, Surovell blast decision not to charge officers in Bijan Ghaisar case

Federal prosecutors announced Thursday that they will not be charging the two U.S. Park Police officers who shot Bijan Ghaisar in 2017, a decision that was immediately met with outrage by local elected officials.

Ghaisar, 25, was shot nine times on November 17, 2017 at the intersection of Alexandria Avenue and Fort Hunt Road after a brief police chase. He died 10 days later.

The FBI quickly took over the investigation into the shooting, but released virtually no information about the case until Thursday — nearly two years after the shooting.

“Based on the information available at this time, the Department cannot prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the two USPP officers committed willful violations of the applicable federal criminal civil rights statute when they shot Mr. Ghaisar,” the Justice Department said in its statement.

State Sen. Scott Surovell, who lives close to where the shooting took place and has helped maintain a memorial near the site, called the decision not to charge the two Park Police officers “outrageous.”

“We all knew this was coming with the Trump Justice Department, but this is still shocking,” Surovell said on Facebook. “Multiple policy violations, no justification, and it took them two years to figure out their decision. Totally outrageous and cowardly move by prosecutors.”

Beyer, who has worked closely with the Ghaisar family in the two years since the shooting, expressed his continued sympathy for them, saying “this is not justice.”

“I cannot imagine the pain which my friends Kelly and James, Bijan’s parents, must feel at being told that the police who killed their son without apparent justification did not violate his constitutional rights when all available evidence including video of the event contradicts that,” Beyer said in a statement.

Beyer also said the continuing lack of an explanation for why officers shot Ghaisar, who was unarmed and driving slowly around them at the time officers opened fire, was unacceptable.

“For two years the F.B.I., Justice Department, Department of the Interior, and U.S. Park Police have refused to answer the question, ‘why did Bijan Ghaisar die?’” Beyer said. “It beggars belief that these agencies could conduct the longest and least transparent of investigations and somehow leave that question even more obscured than it was when they started.”

Beyer went on to say that he does not consider the case closed.

“I am not satisfied by the Justice Department’s statement and I do not believe my colleagues will be either,” Beyer said. “This will not end here.”

Ghaisar, an accountant who lived in McLean, was involved in a fender bender on the George Washington Parkway on the night of the shooting. Ghaisar, whose SUV was rear-ended, drove away from the scene. Nobody was injured in the crash, which happened north of Old Town Alexandria.

Ghaisar’s vehicle was spotted shortly afterward by Park Police officers on the Parkway near the Fairfax County line. Officers pursued Ghaisar as he drove southbound. He stopped twice during the course of the pursuit — including once on the GW Parkway and once on West Boulevard Drive after exiting the Parkway — but drove off each time as a Park Police officer approached his door.

He eventually led the officers down Alexandria Avenue before stopping again at the intersection of Fort Hunt Road. The officers pulled in front of Ghaisar’s Jeep Grand Cherokee in order to block him, but Ghaisar began slowly driving forward and to the right, as if he was trying to go around the Park Police SUV. At that point five rounds are fired at Ghaisar.

Ghairsar’s Jeep stopped after the gunfire, and a second Park Police officer approached. When Ghaisar’s vehicle began to roll forward again, the second officer fired two more shots. The Jeep stopped again for a moment before continuing to slowly roll, and two more shots are fired. The Jeep then rolled into a roadside ditch at a steep angle.

More than 25 seconds elapsed between the first and last shots fired.

The chase was captured on video by an in-car camera in a Fairfax County Police Department cruiser that followed the Park Police in the chase. That video was released publicly by FCPD Chief Edwin Roessler a couple months after the shooting. No FCPD officers fired their weapons at Ghaisar.

Fairfax County could still open an investigation into the shooting, and Ghaisars family has pushed forward with a wrongful death lawsuit, which led to the two officers involved in the shooting finally being named in March.

The Ghaisar family released a statement in the wake of the Justice Department announcement, saying the decision was “another betrayal in this nightmare that began for us almost two years ago to the day.”

“Let’s be clear about what happened here: Two people executed an American citizen who they were sworn to protect and serve, and the only reason they’re escaping justice is because they wear badges,” the family said in its statement.

“We are not giving up on justice for Bijan. The Department may have failed to do its job with this investigation but there are other ways to ensure Officers Vinyard and Amaya be held accountable for killing Bijan. The Park Police must have an internal investigation. At the very least, these rogue officers should be fired. Other criminal charges and prosecution are also possible through the Commonwealth of Virginia.”

The U.S. Park Police, who has not publicly addressed the shooting since it happened, released a short statement in the wake of the Justice Department announcement.

“At this time, the USPP is reviewing the findings of the FBI’s investigation,” the Park Police said. “We will provide further information as appropriate.”