B4 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST.WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 19 , 2022
him when he was not a threat to
the officers or the public.
The of ficers relied upon the
supremacy clause of the Constitu-
tion, which holds that state law
must defer to federal law and
federal officers may not be pros-
ecuted if they acted under federal
authority and “did no more than
what was necessary and proper.”
Those criteria come from an 1890
Supreme Court case in which a
federal marshal was prosecuted
for killing a California man while
protecting a Supreme Court jus-
tice.
The brief from the attorneys
general notes that the Supreme
Court has ruled that “a federal
official may not with impunity
ignore the limitations which the
controlling law has placed on his
powers.” The brief urges that “this
Court should take this opportu-
nity to articulate a precise stan-
dard that respects states’ crimi-
nal-law powers by requiring a
sufficiently high showing before
shielding federal officers from
state prosecutions.”
The brief was signed by Racine
and Kwame Raoul of Illinois, Bri-
an E. Frosh of Maryland, Maura
Healey of Massachusetts, Dana
Nessel of Michigan, Keith Ellison
of Minnesota, Aaron D. Ford of
Nevada, Ellen F. Rosenblum of
Oregon, Thomas J. Donovan Jr. of
Vermont and Robert W. Ferguson
of Washington state.
[email protected]Ghaisar stopped once in a lane of
the parkway and drove off, then
stopped a second time on an exit
from the parkway, again driving
off, both times as Amaya ran at
him with his gun drawn, the Fair-
fax lieutenant’s video shows. At a
third stop in a residential neigh-
borhood, again facing Amaya’s
gun, Ghaisar began to roll away
again, the video shows. Both Ama-
ya and Vinyard fired five times, in
three separate bursts, killing
Ghaisar.
The Justice Department in No-
vember 2019 declined to file fed-
eral criminal civil rights charges
against the officers. Fairfax pros-
ecutors then took up the case, and
Fairfax Commonwealth’s Attor-
ney Steve Descano in October
2020 obtained indictments
against Vinyard and Amaya on
charges of involuntary man-
slaughter and reckless use of a
firearm.
Federal law allows federal offi-
cers who are charged with state
criminal violations to remove the
case to federal court if they acted
“under color of such office.” Hil-
ton accepted the case in April, but
Virginia prosecutors argue he was
wrong to do so, because the offi-
cers acted beyond the scope of
their authority. Their brief con-
tends the officers repeatedly vio-
lated their training and policies
by pursuing Ghaisar for a non-fel-
ony offense, pulling their weap-
ons on him and finally shootingcan still seek justice when crimes
are committed within their bor-
ders. This is particularly impor-
tant to the District because so
many federal law enforcement
agencies operate here.”
Attorneys for Vinyard and
Amaya did not respond to re-
quests for comment Tuesday.
Ghaisar’s killing occurred
more than four years ago, and the
criminal case and a civil wrong-
ful-death suit filed by his family
remain in limbo, pending the out-
come of the 4th Circuit ruling and
then a possible appeal to the Su-
preme Court. Ghaisar, a 25-year-
old accountant from McLean, Va.,
was driving on George Washing-
ton Memorial Parkway in Alexan-
dria on Nov. 17, 2017, when he
suddenly stopped his Jeep Grand
Cherokee in a lane of traffic and
was struck from behind by a Toyo-
ta Corolla. Instead of exchanging
information with the Corolla driv-
er, Ghaisar drove away.
A lookout was broadcast for
Ghaisar’s Jeep, and Vinyard and
Amaya spotted it as Ghaisar drove
through Old Town Alexandria.
The of ficers said they pulled
alongside Ghaisar and yelled at
him to pull over, but Ghaisar kept
driving. Both vehicles returned to
George Washington Parkway in
Fairfax County, soon joined by a
Fairfax police lieutenant with an
in-car video camera.
With the Park Police vehicle’s
emergency lights and siren on,reasonable to fear for Officer
Amaya’s life” and “the officers’
decision to discharge their fire-
arms was necessary and proper
under the circumstances.”
Fairfax prosecutors, joined by
then-Virginia Attorney General
Mark R. Herring (D), appealed
Hilton’s ruling to the 4th Circuit,
and then-Virginia Solicitor Gen-
eral Michelle Kallen filed an
opening appeal brief last week,
three days before leaving the post
as a new administration took
over. A spokeswoman for new at-
torney general Jason Miyares (R)
said Tuesday that his office was
still reviewing the case to deter-
mine whether it will continue to
assist the Fairfax common-
wealth’s attorney.
The issues cited by the Virginia
prosecutors and the 10 attorneys
general, all Democrats, focus on
whether Hilton and federal courts
in general should easily grant “Su-
premacy Clause” immunity to fed-
eral officers accused of state
crimes, and whether the appeals
court should clarify the meaning
of what are “necessary and prop-
er” actions by a federal officer that
entitle them to such immunity.
Racine said in a statement that
the attorneys general filed the
brief to hold the Park Police offi-
cers accountable for killing
Ghaisar and to clarify the immu-
nity standards “to ensure states
GHAISAR FROM B1
AGs back Virginia case against Park Police o∞cers
top transit leaders.
In October, the National Trans-
portation Safety Board u ncovered
a defect in Metro’s 7000 series rail
cars while investigating a Blue
Line derailment on Oct. 12. The
defect, which causes the cars’
wheels to widen away from each
other, prompted the safety com-
mission to suspend all 748 cars.
NTSB officials discovered that
Metro inspectors had known of
the flaw since 2017, but Wiedefeld
and Metro board members said
they had not been informed of the
issue.
Wiedefeld said he will spend
the next six months focusing on
restoring bus and rail service to
normal levels.
He said other priorities will be
opening the long-delayed nearly
11-mile extension of the Silver
Line , which will connect Metro-
rail to Dulles International Air-
port. The stretch, which will bring
Metro service to Loudoun County,
is scheduled to open this year. He
also will lead Metro’s efforts to
move its headquarters from Judi-
ciary Square to a complex nearing
completion at L’Enfant Plaza.
The Metro board chairman,
Paul C. Smedberg, said Wiedefeld
led Metro out of “very dark days.”
Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D-Va.)
said Wiedefeld made tough deci-
sions during his tenure. He said
the next general manager should
“tackle the culture of mediocrity”
at Metro, and “failure to do so will
cause a backslide in the progress
Wiedefeld made.”
[email protected]itize safety over service — a mis-
sion he underlined four months
into the job when he shut down
the entire rail system for 24 hours
to allow inspectors to search for
deteriorating power cables.
He launched SafeTrack in 2016,
a more than $110 million blitz of
maintenance that accelerated
three years worth of track repairs
and equipment replacement into
a year, a massive project that cre-
ated major disruption for com-
muters — a cost Wiedefeld said
had to be paid for safety. The
ensuing months led to a frustrat-
ing period for riders that included
station shutdowns and intermit-
tent delays as Wiedefeld empha-
sized returning Metro to what
transit leaders called “a state of
good repair.”
Wiedefeld’s tenure was also
marked by the inability to trans-
form Metro’s workplace culture,
as well as communication break-
downs that shielded serious safety
issues from coming to light until
years later.
In 2020, the Washington
Metrorail Safety Commission re-
leased a 50-page audit of Metro’s
rail operations control center, or
ROCC, that labeled the center a
“toxic workplace” where employ-
ees were bullied, racially and
sexually harassed, and told by
managers to ignore authorities
and operating procedures, creat-
ing chaos during emergencies and
threatening passenger safety.
The audit resulted in scathing
criticism from congressional lead-
ers and the reshuffling of severalwould take over monitoring
Metrorail safety. It was the first
time the federal agency had put a
major transit sy stem under its di-
rect supervision, an arrangement
that lasted nearly three years until
the Washington Metrorail Safety
Commission, an agency Congress
created in 2017, took over.
As he was hired, Wiedefeld an-
nounced that his goal was to prior-which came after a string of inci-
dents and federal investigations,
was marred by delayed responses
from first responders, emergency
management mistakes and con-
flicting commands that imperiled
passengers on t he train, according
to multiple investigations.
One month before Wiedefeld
was hired, the Federal Transit Ad-
ministration announced that itvantage point but whoever suc-
ceeds him will need to have better
support from the region political-
ly, financially, and in governance
to see better outcomes.”
Wiedefeld was hired in Novem-
ber 2015, about 10 months after a
passenger died and dozens were
sickened when a stalled train
filled with smoke outside of the
L’Enfant Plaza station. The event,Metro needs a leader who can
commit to several years of service
and set a new course.” he said in a
statement. “This gives the Board
time to identify a s uccessor and
ensures an orderly management
transition.
Wiedefeld, who previously
served as chief executive of Balti-
more-Washington Marshall Inter-
national Airport, informed Metro
of his decision Tuesday.
He didn’t comment Tuesday on
his departure beyond his state-
ment, but regional leaders said
the job was increasingly difficult
amid challenges brought by the
pandemic.
Michael Goldman, a former
Metro board member who repre-
sented Maryland for eight years
until his term expired in June,
said Wiedefeld was the leader
Metro needed after a period of
instability. He said the timing is
right for a change, given Metro’s
immediate problems.
“It’s best to have a new CEO
who can lead Metro out of this
with a comprehensive plan,” Gold-
man said in an email.
Jeff McKay, chair of the Fairfax
County Board of Supervisors, said
he admired Wiedefeld’s ability to
stay calm in a “very difficult job,
during a very difficult time.”
“It’s always good to be thinking
about the next chapter and this
gives the [Metro] board that op-
portunity,” McKay (D) said in a
text message. “That said, Paul has
been an excellent GM from my
WIEDEFELD FROM B1
Metro General Manager Wiedefeld to retire after six years
ASTRID RIECKEN FOR THE WASHINGTON POST
Metro General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld’s departure adds another layer of uncertainty for the
nation’s third-largest transit agency as it s truggles to recover from pandemic-driven r evenue losses.BY DONNA ST. GEORGEAs Maryland’s largest school
system struggles to cope with the
effects of the omicron variant, In-
terim Superintendent Monifa
McKnight asked elected officials
in Montgomery County to staff its
209 schools with contact tracers
and provide 190,000 at-home rap-
id test kits every other week.
School officials also announced
16 more schools would move to
virtual learning this week, as of fi-
cials continue to monitor case
rates, absences, staffing shortages
and other factors. Previously, 11
schools with high infection rates
were moved to virtual learning.
Teachers at the affected schools
are expected to prepare for the
change Thursday while students
work on asynchronous lessons,
and students are expected to begin
virtual instruction with their
teachers on Friday, with in-person
learning resuming on Jan. 31.
Speaking to the Montgomery
County Council, McKnight on
Tuesday reiterated her commit-
ment to in-person education “to
the greatest extent possible,” say-
ing that the test kits and personnel
to do contact tracing would “make
a tremendous difference for our
schools.”
Contact tracing efforts are con-
sumi ng an enormous amount of
time, she said. “Our school admin-
istr ators and our staff have been
managing this responsibility
throughout the year and we’ve
heard repeatedly it has taken away
from their ability to fo cus on in-
struction,” McKnight said.
The at-home tests would help
the system in its efforts to ensure
regular testing among its 160,000students and more than 24,000
employees, along with substi-
tutes, McKnight said. This would
be in addition to a s creening pro-
gram that is already in place at
schools for a random sample of
students who have opted into the
program.
Mary Anderson, a spokeswom-
an for the county’s health depart-
ment, said the requests were being
revi ewed and more information
might be available Wednesday.
County Executive Marc Elrich
(D) said the test kits are “probably
doable” but he’s unclear why
school officials did not order them
after the county shared its con-
tractor’s name. More challenging,
he said, is finding 200-plus em-
ployees to assign to schools.
Cynthia Simonson, president of
the Montgomery County Council
of PTAs, called the contact tracing
request “a huge step” but had con-
cerns about the rapid tests.
She said there were no straight-
forward expectations with the
first wave of at-home tests distrib-
uted after winter break and no
transparency about how many re-
sults were reported.
The elementary schools moving
to vi rtual are: Beall, Brookhaven,
Clopper Mill, Capt. James E. Daly,
Gaithersburg,^ Glenallan, Sargent
Shriver, Twinbrook, Watkins Mill
and Whetstone.
The middle schools moving to
virtual learning are: Briggs
Chaney, Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr., Lakelands and Neelsville.
Paint Branch High School and
the John L. Gildner Regional Insti-
tute for Children and Adolescents
are also affected, and will be mov-
ing to virtual learning.
[email protected]MARYLANDMontgomery schools seek
contact tracers, test kits
WE GETIT DONE.WINDOWSSIDIN GDOORSTRIMTILEA DIVISION OF
VA #2701039723 | MD MHIC #1176 | DC #2242OVER TEN THOUSAND HOMEOWNERS
SERVED IN T HE DMVIndustry leading 5 year warrantySkilled and licensed professionals
that care for you and your homeVoted “Best Handyman” in Washington
City Paper and Bethesda MagazineAwarded “Top Workplace” by
The Washington PostVANITIESFLOO RINGCOUNTERTOPSACCESSIBILITY& MOREVA: 703.691.5500MD: 301.388.5959DC: 202.770.3131ScheduleFRED.comOffer valid with purchase of bath or shower replacement. Offer valid until 2/1/2022. Subject to credit approval. Call for more information. Installations in as
little as one day. Sold, furnished and installed by a n independent Luxury Bath Technologies dealer. Not valid with any other offer. Luxury bath dealers are neither
brokers or lenders. Different lending institutions have different programs and rates. Lifetime Warranty applies to manufacturing defects. Discount available
during initial consultation. Offer Personal Hygiene Systems, Aging in Place, Mobiliavailable for a limited time as determined ty and Accessibility. MD136343, by the dealer. Ask your representative for details. Other restrictions may apply.
VA2705170348, WV058033.LUXURIOUS BATHROOMSWITHIN YOUR BUDGET!+ 50% OFF LABOR!0% INTERESTFOR 18 MONTHSLIMITED
TIME
OFFER!REMODELINGExclusi ve to Luxury Bath Technologies
Tub & Shower SystemsReduces Risk of Cross-
Contamination
Stays Cleaner Longer
Fights the Growth of Mold
& Mildew
Extends P roduct LifeWe work with the VA on behalf of Veterans.MADE IN THE USA.BATH & SHOWER RENOVATIONS
FROM TOP TO BOTTO M, IN AS LITTLE AS ONE DAY.VIRGINIA703-643-9 251MARYLAND240-296-2869
Not Available in DCN0302 1x1 .75More about
pets?
There’s a newsletter—
or several—for you.
wpost.com/newsletters