Two U.S. Park Police officers who were cleared of criminal wrongdoing in the 2017 killing of Bijan Ghaisar have sued the Interior Department with hopes of forcing a decision on their proposed firing.
In 2021, the department took preliminary steps toward firing officers Lucas Vinyard and Alejandro Amaya. Both officers were indicted on charges of manslaughter in 2020, but a federal judge dismissed the case in 2021.
Ghaisar, a 25-year-old Virginia accountant, was fatally shot during a traffic stop in suburban Fairfax County, Virginia.
Nearly seven years after the killing, the officers are still on paid leave as they await a final decision from Interior officials.
Video from the shooting showed the two officers fired 10 shots into Ghaisar’s Jeep Grand Cherokee as he tried to drive away from them after a chase. The officers said they were acting in self-defense.
But the Justice Department last year agreed to pay $5 million to settle a lawsuit brought by Ghaisar’s family.
In a federal lawsuit filed earlier this month, the two officers accused Interior and its deputy assistant secretary, Lisa Branum, of an “unreasonable delay in issuing a final decision,” asking that officials be forced “to do their job and issue a decision.”
“Indeed, it seems that the DOI has no intention of issuing a decision at all, preferring to have Officer Vinyard and Officer Amaya remain quietly on indefinite leave rather than do as it must and return them to work,” attorneys for the officers said in a July 10 complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Throughout an “interminable delay,” the attorneys said, the officers have been “on administrative leave, unable to earn overtime, promotions, or otherwise advance their careers. “
“Despite multiple inquiries, the DOI and Branum have refused to issue a decision or to even speak with the officers’ counsel regarding the status of any decision,” the attorneys said.
Giovanni Rocco, an Interior spokesperson, said the department had no comment on the lawsuit.
Kenneth Spencer, who heads the Park Police officers’ union, backed the officers, saying Interior and the National Park Service “are no different than any other employer that is bound by labor-management rules and regulations.”
“They cannot hide from their responsibilities and obligations. Their mistreatment of the two officers was shameless and not in accordance with our labor management agreement or labor law,” said Spencer, chair of the Fraternal Order of Police chapter of the Park Police.
