Bacon's Rebellion

Democracy Thrives in Sunlight

Fifteen Months Later and Still No Answers on the Bijan Ghaisar Killing

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by

djrippert
in ,

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OXvXQqZE8g&w=500&h=315]463 days.

 November 17, 2017 was the date that U.S. Park Police gunned down / assassinated Bijan Ghaisar on a street in Fairfax County. That was 463 days ago.  n all that time there has been no comment from the U.S. Park Police or the FBI (assigned to investigate the case) regarding this killing.

477 days. That was the total amount of time that elapsed between the discovery of the bodies of Nicole Brown Simpson / Ronald Goldman and the verdict in the OJ Simpson case.

Coverup. Unlike the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman the killing of Bijan Ghaisar was recorded on two Fairfax County Police Department dash cameras. Unlike the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman, the killing of Bijan Ghaisar was witnessed by two Fairfax County police officers who did not fire any shots at Ghaisar. It is inconceivable that the Ghaisar investigation should have taken this long considering the amount of unimpeachable evidence involved. It seems clear that when the federal government (FBI / DoJ) investigates the federal government (U.S. Park Police) time is a weapon used in the hope that the public will forget and outrage will subside.

Unaccountable. Politicians from State Senator Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, to US Representative Don Beyer, D-8th, to U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, have demanded answers from the Park Police and the FBI. Those demands have been pointedly ignored. The bureaucrats of the deep state see no reason to answer to the duly elected representatives of the people.

Adding insult to injury. In an effort to keep the memory of Bijan Ghaisar in the minds of citizens, Ghaisar’s family put up a small sign memorializing the killing of Bijan. The sign was posted on private property near the scene of the killing with the property owner’s permission. That sign was stolen. A larger sign was then erected and chained to the property.  That sign was also stolen.

— Don Rippert

 

 

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11 responses to “Fifteen Months Later and Still No Answers on the Bijan Ghaisar Killing”

  1. V N Avatar
    V N

    Horrible.

    1. djrippert Avatar
      djrippert

      It is horrible. On so many levels. If you and I were caught on film killing somebody I guarantee there would be no 15 month (and counting) investigation. We’d have already been either exonerated or convicted.

  2. Steve Haner Avatar
    Steve Haner

    I guess the FBI top leadership was too busy acting out their own version of Seven Days in May.

    1. djrippert Avatar
      djrippert

      I was thinking the same thing. I guess meddling in presidential politics is more fun than investigating murder.

      In semi-fairness to the FBI the rumor is that their investigation ended after one year or so. They then referred their analysis to the DoJ which, if historical standards hold, will take another two years or so to decide what to do.

      I understand the need for an independent investigation. It should have been Fairfax County, Arlington County or the Virginia State Police. The Park Police have a long running reputation for incompetence and FBI / DoJ has a renewed reputation for being corrupt.

  3. Acbar Avatar
    Acbar

    Time for “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.” Except, in Belle Haven, Virginia.

  4. TBill Avatar
    TBill

    It is reminiscent of the John Geer shooting when the Fairfax police would not talk about what happened for a long time. Geer’s daughters received a $3 million settlement in that case. In this Ghaisar case , it is the US Gov’t keeping a lid on it. In this Ghaisar case, Fairfax was proactive in getting their dash cam videos published as soon as possible (they were pushing to release that video).

    1. djrippert Avatar
      djrippert

      I agree. That “investigation” took almost 3 years from the killing to the officer taking a plea bargain of involuntary manslaughter. Four of the Fairfax County officers on the scene disagreed with the shooting officer’s claim that Geer was moving toward a holstered gun lying on the ground.

      The guilty officer ended up serving one year in jail. As you mentioned, Geer’s daughters received $3m in a civil suit.

      I can only hope that Fairfax County Police learned their lesson from the Geer murder. They did release the dah cam video over the objections of the Park Police. Of course, it wasn’t one of their officers under suspicion in the Ghaisar killing.

      Maybe Kapernick has a point.

  5. TooManyTaxes Avatar
    TooManyTaxes

    Absolutely unacceptable. If there is a reason for withholding the videos or other normally released information, the federal government should provide that reason. I’m not drawing any conclusions on the merits. The videos I saw, which were not the involved officers’ body cams, haven’t given me enough information to have any opinion on what happened much less draw any of my own conclusions about fault. But absent national security concerns or evidence protected by an ongoing criminal investigation, this material must be made public.

    1. djrippert Avatar
      djrippert

      I don’t know of any unreleased videos. Do you? I seem to recall that the Park Police had neither dash cams nor body cams but I could be wrong about that. The two Fairfax County Police cruisers had dash cams and both of those videos have been released. The big revelation from Fairfax County (beyond the videos themselves) was that Ghaisar was unarmed.

      The videos I saw (from Fairfax County) look pretty damning. Shooting a man in the head at point blank range for refusing to pull over seems like the definition of excessive force. Ghaisar had no gun so the Park Police officers weren’t defending themselves from being shot. I’m open to hear the officers’ explanations but we’re two weeks away from this investigation taking longer than the Simpson investigation, trial and verdict combined.

  6. Reed Fawell 3rd Avatar
    Reed Fawell 3rd

    Let’s put Robert Mueller on this. He’ll soon be available.

  7. TooManyTaxes Avatar
    TooManyTaxes

    I just watched the tape again twice. Since it doesn’t show when and how the chase started, I feel like a have a big hole in the facts. Obviously, the FCPD tape begins when the chase was ongoing. Was the PCPD squad car expecting the chase or just happened to be in the right place at the right time to join in?

    Mr. Ghaisar’s attempts to avoid the park police suggest this was more than a traffic stop. But we have no facts upon which to draw conclusions. The shooting seems strange. What provoked it? Why nine shots? Whatever the facts, they need to be made public now or the Park Police/FBI/DoJ need to make public the reasons for withholding the information. This non-responsiveness is completely inconsistent with good and open government.

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