Va. Attorney General Miyares ends prosecution of Park Police officers in Ghaisar case

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Va. Attorney General Miyares ends prosecution of Park Police officers in Ghaisar case

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washingtonpost.com
Va. Attorney General Miyares ends prosecution of Park Police officers in Ghaisar case
Virginia initially appealed the dismissal of manslaughter charges against two U.S. Park Police officers, but a new attorney general has ended the appeal.

LOCAL CRIME & PUBLIC SAFETY

Va. Attorney General Miyares ends prosecution of U.S. Park Police officers in Ghaisar case

Criminal case against officers Lucas Vinyard and Alejandro Amaya ends, but Fairfax prosecutor hopes for federal reconsideration.

By Tom Jackman
Today at 5:23 p.m. EDT | Updated today at 7:51 p.m. EDT



U.S. Park Police Officer Lucas Vinyard, left, is shown firing his handgun, after fellow officer Alejandro Amaya, right, has already fired into Bijan Ghaisar's vehicle in an image from video taken by Fairfax County police on Nov. 17, 2017. The Virginia attorney general moved Friday to drop all charges against the officers. (U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia)

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares (R) on Friday dropped the state’s federal appeal in the manslaughter case against two U.S. Park Police officers, effectively ending any attempt at criminal prosecution of the officers who fatally shot unarmed motorist Bijan Ghaisar in a Fairfax County neighborhood in 2017.

Ghaisar, 25, had led U.S. Park Police officers Lucas Vinyard, 40, and Alejandro Amaya, 42, on a pursuit down the George Washington Memorial Parkway on the night of Nov. 17, 2017, stopping at least twice and then pulling away as Amaya approached his Jeep Grand Cherokee with his weapon drawn. At a third stop, a video of the incident shows, Vinyard pulled his Park Police vehicle in front of Ghaisar’s Jeep, but when Ghaisar began rolling forward again, Amaya and then Vinyard both opened fire, shooting five times each into Ghaisar’s vehicle.

The case was investigated by the FBI, because the Park Police are federal officers, and in 2019 the Justice Department declined to file federal civil rights charges against the officers. In 2020, Fairfax Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano (D) obtained involuntary manslaughter indictments against both officers, and enlisted the help of Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring (D) to prosecute the case in federal court, where the officers were entitled to have the case heard. ... Last year, Senior U.S. District Judge Claude Hilton ruled that Vinyard and Amaya had acted reasonably in killing Ghaisar, and ordered the manslaughter charges dismissed. Herring and Descano appealed.

[Judge dismisses criminal charges against Park Police officers in Bijan Ghaisar slaying]

{snip}

Ghaisar was an accountant who was born and raised in Northern Virginia, graduated from Langley High School and Virginia Commonwealth University, and worked for his father’s firm in McLean. He was driving south on the George Washington Parkway near Alexandria, apparently smoking marijuana, according to court records, when he suddenly stopped in front of a Toyota Corolla being driven as an Uber by Atif Rehman. The two vehicles collided, and Rehman’s Corolla was damaged, but Rehman said Ghaisar never looked back at him and drove off. His passenger called 911 to report a hit-and-run, police records show.

{snip}

By Tom Jackman
Tom Jackman has been covering criminal justice for The Washington Post since 1998 and anchors the True Crime blog. He previously covered crime and courts for the Kansas City Star. Twitter https://twitter.com/TomJackmanWP

[dchill]

1. "...acted reasonably in killing ..."

Uh huh. All murderers should vote Republican!