The father of a 25-year-old who was shot and killed by U.S. Park Police couldn’t hold back tears as he spoke about what his family has endured for more than five years.
“It is final, of course — all these legal procedures — but it is just the beginning of spending every penny on this fund to save lives and do justice,” James Ghaisar said after he wept.
A federal court judge approved a $5 million settlement on Friday after the police killing of Bijan Ghaisar in 2017 following a pursuit on the George Washington Parkway. Ghaisar’s parents said they will use the money to fight police brutality.
They said they will put the funds into a foundation and use it for charitable causes as well as an effort to defeat the supremacy clause, which says federal law is the supreme law of the land.
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Attorneys for Officer Alejandro Amaya and Officer Lucas Vinyard used the clause and got state manslaughter charges filed against them moved to federal court, where the charges ultimately were dismissed.
“For the rest of my life, as long as I live, I will fight to overturn qualified immunity. This is my goal in life,” Kelly Ghaisar, Bijan’s mother, said.
A Fairfax County police dashboard camera recorded the shooting of Bijan Ghaisar. It appears to show the accountant from McLean, Virginia, slowly driving away when he was shot.
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The Department of Justice declined to file charges after an FBI investigation that lasted as long as two years.
With the settlement now in the books, Bijan Ghaisar’s mother had some choice words for the judge who dismissed the case, Claude Hilton. The same judge approved the settlement Friday.
“He made it his mission to go the extra way to say this shooting, which we all have seen, made it proper and necessary. It’s appalling. That’s appalling,” Kelly Ghaisar said.
The Park Police officers’ union says the Department of the Interior has told the officers they will be fired. The union is fighting their termination.
