Bijan Ghaisar’s mother protests to demand officers involved in his death be fired
Bijan Ghaisar’s mother protests to demand officers involved in his death be fired
Bijan Ghaisar's mother will mark what would have been her son's 30th birthday with a protest outside the U.S. Department of Interior in Washington, D.C. to demand the agency fire the U.S. Park Police officers involved in his death.
WASHINGTON - Bijan Ghaisar's mother will mark what would have been her son's 30th birthday with a protest outside the U.S. Department of Interior in Washington, D.C. to demand the agency fire the U.S. Park Police officers involved in his death.
Kelly Ghaisar said the protest will begin about 11:30 a.m. Wednesday.
Ghaisar was fatally shot in November 2017 after authorities say he left the scene of an accident on the George Washington Memorial Parkway and led officers on a stop-and-go chase.
Bijan Ghaisar
Dashcam video released by Fairfax County Police, which played a supporting role in the chase, shows the pursuit starting on the parkway, then continuing into a residential neighborhood.
It shows the car driven by Ghaisar stopping twice during the chase, and officers approaching the car with guns drawn. In both cases, Ghaisar drives off.
At the third and final stop, the officers again approach with guns drawn, and Officer Alejandro Amaya stands in front of the driver's door. When the car starts to move, Amaya opens fire. Seconds later, when the car begins moving again, both Amaya and Officer Lucas Vinyard fire multiple shots.
Lucas Vinyard, left, and Alejandro Amaya, right.
The FBI investigated the shooting for two years, but federal prosecutors ultimately opted against filing charges.
Ghaisar's family says testimony has revealed Amaya and Vinyard appeared to violate USPP policies during the chase. The family says Senators Mark Warner and Charles Grassley have requested that the Department of Interior's Inspector General investigate the officers' conduct.
The Associated Press contributed to this report