“Every time we’ve done one of these compensation programs, it is a horror,” attorney Kenneth R. Feinberg, the recently appointed leader of the National Compassion Fund, told a crowd of victims, their families and the media at one of two town halls scheduled at the Amway Center in downtown Orlando. “We are here to serve the community. Like most Americans, we step up when asked.”
Feinberg, of course, was referring to the ongoing emotional and legal maze plaguing victims of the June 12 Pulse massacre in which 49 were killed and another 53 injured. While the city of Orlando has become a hotbed of discussion for media in search of angles – some ephemeral, some grounded in the enormity of an international tragedy – the families were given a moment to sort out their affairs in a quiet manner, away from the sunshine, media tents and flowers. This was the time for questions.
It was no small affair at the 12:30 p.m. gathering on Aug. 4, a fact drilled home by the presence of survivors and families of victims from mass killings in Aurora, Santa Barbara and Phoenix. Bob Weiss of Santa Barbara, a father whose daughter was killed in 2014 during another gun rampage, could barely hold back his tears.
“Welcome to the club that nobody wants to be a member of,” Weiss said. He has not been able to work through his post-traumatic stress disorder since the loss of his daughter, and earns, he says, $25,000 annually on Social Security Disability, which, he intimated, is better than nothing. Other family members of victims – as well as victims themselves – spoke gravely of offering hugs along with advice.
Mostly, however, the town halls were devised as a means of clearing up confusion surrounding the distribution of some $23 million in donations that has come into the OneOrlando Fund (oneorlando.org). A draft protocol, initially introduced on July 13, was explained in detail by Feinberg, who, in no uncertain terms, tried to turn the tears into action and make the lives of those affected by the hate crime in Orlando a pecuniary priority.
Four divisions of affected individuals and experiences were explained – individual death claims, individual physical injury claims for victims requiring overnight hospitalization, individual physical injury claims of victims treated at Orlando area hospitals on an emergency outpatient basis and individual claims of victims present inside the Pulse nightclub [at the time of the incident]. As was expected, there were some gray areas of frustration among attendees. One woman spoke of being released from the hospital while still holding bullet fragments in her body, fragments she’ll continue to deal with for the rest of her life; others spoke of fight-or-flight tendencies in which those who could get away, did get away, without speaking to police.
Feinberg assured those gathered that the authorities had a suitably finalized list of those who were involved in the incident and stated that the compassion fund was hard at work trying to award payouts in their various increments: from most severe to least.
Some of the victims have already received financial assistance from the state, and some mentioned that the state would not allow them to receive further payouts without refunding the state issued monies, according to documents they have received along with their checks. Others raised concerns about probate – the perpetual concern in death cases in which families cannot decide on an executor or personal representative for the estate – as to where the money, when awarded, would go.
Feinberg tried to keep it as clinical as possible, stating that the local courts would rush probate designations in this case should all family parties be in agreement as to who was in charge. Otherwise, he hinted, it could get ugly in trial. That, however, is not OneOrlando’s business. The $23 million will be divvied out based on the severity of the cases in the most clinical manner possible. That’s something that won’t necessarily be good news to those without estate documentation in advance of the murders or for those who are afraid of citizenship issues. June 12 was “Latin Night,” and some may have documentation issues.
In the end, Feinberg said that he hoped that through September, the funds would begin to roll out once the protocol was finalized. Also, all of the funds will go to the victims and those hurt, not to overhead.
“We applaud the mayor [Buddy Dyer] who quickly agreed to change the language so that the money would go directly to you, not the nonprofits,” he said.
