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Washington, DC -- Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton (D-VA-10) pressed President of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association (FLEOA) Larry Cosme today about the misconduct of U.S. Park Police officers in the 2017 fatal shooting of Bijan Ghaisar. Mr. Cosme admitted to Congresswoman Wexton that the tactics used by the two Park Police officers who killed Bijan -- including drawing their firearm while investigating the misdemeanor call, banging their weapon on the window of the car, kicking the car, and firing at the car as it drove away -- may go against the protocol and training of the officers.

The Ghaisar family, residents of Virginia’s 10th District, have gone 1,047 days without justice or accountability for Bijan’s killing.

Watch the first part of Rep. Wexton’s questioning here, and the second part here

The House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations hearing included discussion of the Federal Police Camera and Accountability Act, introduced by Representatives Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) and Don Beyer (D-VA). The bill would require uniformed federal law enforcement to wear body cameras and have dashboard cameras in marked vehicles. The language of the bill was included in the bipartisan George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which Wexton cosponsored and voted to pass in June.

Wexton, Norton, and Beyer have accused the Park Police of stonewalling investigations into Bijan’s killing. The Department of Justice announced last year that it would not pursue legal action against the officers who shot and killed Bijan.

The other witnesses in the hearing included Kelly Ghaisar, mother of Bijan; Arthur Ago, Director of the Criminal Justice Project at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law; and Jim Northup, Executive Councilmember at the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks. Watch the full hearing here.

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