Bijan Ghaisar was a 25-year-old accountant living and working in his hometown of McLean, Virginia. He was born in Virginia to parents of Iranian descent. He was an outspoken young man, a lover of food, family, friends, and football. He was socially conscious, avidly anti-gun, humorous and peaceful. He had his whole life ahead of him.

On the evening of Friday, November 17th, 2017, he was hit from behind by an Uber driver on the George Washington Parkway near the nation’s capital. He was chased by two United States Park Police officers, Lucas Vinyard and Alejandro Amaya, shortly after driving away from the minor incident. He stopped for the officers three times. Every time he stopped, the officers aggressively rushed his vehicle with guns drawn and pointed at his head. At the third stop, they shot at him ten times, as he sat unarmed, veering away from the officers. They shot him four times in the head and one time in the wrist.

The cruelty Bijan faced in his final moments of life, followed by the days his family spent in the hospital with horrific treatment by USPP officers, and the nearly three years since the incident when investigating authorities have remained silent and cruel in the face of their loss and tragedy, has led Bijan’s family and friends to actively pursue reforms and support of organizations fighting for racial equality, justice, and an end to police brutality and use of force.