Feds shielded against insurance claims from Capitol breach
08 January 2021
Families of the people who died in Wednesday's attack on the Capitol — and others who were there — will have a hard time filing suit or recovering damages from the federal government.
Why it matters: That's because the government is self-insured, and thus largely protected from such claims. Normally, a public disturbance of the size and scale seen this week might trigger lawsuits, but that might prove difficult in this case.
Where it stands: Since the U.S. government is self-insured, it has no commercial insurance.
- "Any damage, lawsuits, necessary repairs, or expenses are paid for by U.S. Government resources," per the Insurance Information Institute.
- From a liability perspective, the Federal Tort Claim Act will likelyprotect the government from any lawsuits, should the estates of the people who were killed decide to sue.
- That 1946 law means that "suing a federal government entity for damages in a personal injury claim is more challenging than suing a private citizen or corporation," per Justia.
Different rules apply for the family of Capitol Police officer Brian D. Sicknick, who died from injuries sustained while confronting protesters:
- The Capitol police are under the jurisdiction of the District of Columbia; their workers compensation includes death benefits.
- "The Capitol Police can’t sue the federal government under workers comp," which provides immunity from negligence, Loretta L. Worters, spokeswoman for the Insurance Information Institute, tells Axios.
- However, the family or estate of a Capitol police officer could sue third parties if they believe they were negligent — so that could include the rioters, she added.
The backstory: "It appears the government has been self-insured because of the enormity of the costs if it were through the regular market," Worters said, citing a 1972 report to Congress on the issue.
- While the situation would seem to protect the feds from claims, "there could be an issue with the fact the government knew about the demonstration" in advance and could have been better prepared, Worters said.
- ‘This is such a fluid thing and so different from anything we’ve ever seen," she added.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.