Bijan Ghaisar's family and friends push for answers in US Park Police shooting death
WASHINGTON - The family and friends of Bijan Ghaisar, the 25-year-old accountant from McLean who was fatally shot U.S. Park Police in Fairfax County, continue to push for answers in his shocking death.
Several hundred people were expected to protest outside the U.S. Department of the Interior in Northwest D.C. on Friday to demand answers, including who the two U.S. Park Police officers were who opened fire on Ghaisar.
The 25-year-old was shot on Nov. 17 and later died on Nov. 27. Though more than two months have passed, investigators have released very limited details about what occurred that evening. Ghaisar's family and friends have made it clear they will not stand for silence.
In early December, well over a hundred people gathered in front of the Lincoln Memorial to express their love for the accountant and the shock over his death.
"He is like the most non-combative person I have ever met, never violent," said Sam Yeganeh, one of Ghaisar's closest friends. "I honestly don't think he has ever been in a fight. He's so small but he had the biggest heart and those type of things you can't measure."
MORE: Ex-federal prosecutor questions US Park Police's use of deadly force
On Wednesday, Fairfax County police released dashboard camera video that captured the shooting that happened while officers were chasing Ghaisar after he left the scene of a small fender-bender in which his Jeep was hit by an Uber driver. Yeganeh said he's glad Fairfax County police were backing up U.S. Park Police at the scene and were able to capture the shooting on the dashboard camera.
"I'm just thankful for Fairfax County police for being on the scene and recording this. It just really bothers me. I want to know what type of people they are," Yeganeh explained. "How you could just constantly shoot at somebody's head, keep firing even when you can clearly see that the car, that it's over, and you can see the car turning and you are still unload shots?"
Yeganeh said he wants to know what made the officers so angry that they would jump out with guns drawn after Ghaisar came to a stop the first time.
"You don't want this to happen to anyone in the future--I thinks that's what we are trying for. Better training, obviously they should wear some kind of camera to record these things," Yeganeh said. "This is not the way you handle it. This is not the way you take an innocent person's life. Especially somebody like him, who can never be replaced and that's very difficult."
The FBI is investigating the officers' actions that evening and have so far refused to release their names, experience or duty status.
DC Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton announced on Friday that she will introduce a bill to require uniformed federal police officers to wear body cameras and have dashboard cameras in marked vehicles in response to Ghaisar's shooting death.
"While the investigation continues into the circumstances surrounding Bijan Ghaisar's death, it is already clear that federal officers, like increasing numbers of local law enforcement officers across the country, including in the District of Columbia, should wear body cameras and use dashboard cameras to ensure transparency," Norton said in a written statement. "Particularly in the District, where there are many federal officers, including those with local policing powers, we must ensure federal officers are held accountable to the public for their actions."