Fort Hood shooting victims sue government, accused shooter

Reuters ^ | November 5, 2012 | Jim Forsyth

[GoodDay]

(Reuters) - Families and victims of a mass shooting in 2009 at the Fort Hood military base in Texas filed a wrongful death suit on Monday against the U.S. government, the accused gunman and the estate of an alleged al Qaeda leader.

[GoodDay]

The 148 plaintiffs are seeking damages and a ruling that the rampage was a terrorist attack. The finding would clear the way for them to receive benefits.

Major Nidal Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, faces 13 charges of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder for the November 5, 2009, attack on soldiers preparing to deploy to Iraq.

Survivors have expressed frustration about repeated delays over the past three years in bringing Hasan to trial. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces indefinitely postponed Hasan's court-martial last month pending further review.

[GoodDay]

Link to article:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/05/us-usa-crime-forthood-idUSBRE8A41KH20121105

[Venturer]

Obama has been successful in keeping this from coming to trial before the election.

Perhaps if Romney is elected they will need no court case.

[Baynative]

This seems like a good move. There is a standard benefit paid to survivors of military service members killed in the line of duty. But with “incidents of workplace violence” the door could be open to huge damages for negligence and employer responsibility.

[I want the USA back]

Yes, it was a terrorist attack. 0 had it declared “workplace violence” because he doesn’t want to get his co-religionists mad.

[got news for ya, 0, your buddies in the middle east are always mad about something]

[School of Rational Thought]

if Barry is going to treat this as “work place violence” then he makes the government liable like any other employer.

[jagusafr]

This will be interesting: under the Feres Doctrine, military members may not sue the military for injuries incurred in the line of duty. People have been trying to get Feres overturned for years. Plaintiffs’ counsel will have to be very creative to get past the virtually absolute bar. Maybe they’re taking the approach that the failure to classify the acts as terrorism merely in order to avoid paying benefits is an abuse of authority or some such. The military is given extremely broad latitude in matters of payment of military benefits, so they definitely have an uphill battle (maybe requiring rope and pitons).

Colonel, USAFR

[ronnie raygun]

They should sue Obama and Holder personally, I know they can’t but these criminals could care less if they sue the government it’s tax payer money