Park Police officers seek immunity from manslaughter charge

By MATTHEW BARAKAT
Associated Press

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — Lawyers for two U.S. Park Police officers told a judge that local prosecutors are not entitled to second-guess the split-second judgments officers made when they fatally shot an unarmed motorist after a stop-and-go chase in northern Virginia. The officers sought to persuade a judge Monday in federal court in Alexandria that their clients have immunity from manslaughter charges brought against them in Fairfax County in the 2017 shooting death of Bijan Ghaisar. Federal prosecutors declined to bring criminal charges. A Fairfax County prosecutor then obtained indictments for involuntary manslaughter. Local and state prosecutors say the officers can’t claim immunity when their conduct was unreasonable.