A TikToker has gone massively viral for suggesting that police shootings would go down if all Black people had life insurance. He believes that insurance companies would make sure that police were held accountable if they had to make massive payouts every time an officer wrongfully killed a Black person.
TikToker Mike Bogausch (@1110bogausch) made the stitch in response to a request from Massa George (@nastyearl4) asking what “one thing” white people would tell Black people.
“If every Black person got life insurance, like $200,000, $300,000, $400,000 policy, like every Black person, there would never be another wrongful death by like any cop, any lawmaker, any person of any sort of power that wouldn’t get prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” Bogausch said.
“Insurance companies hate having to pay. So they have got the best fucking lawyers in the fucking world.”
Bogausch’s advice resonated. The TikTok has been viewed nearly 10 million times since he posted it earlier this month.
Police violence and killings of Black people have received intense scrutiny in recent years. After decades during which activists say society turned a blind eye to the violence, cell phone and body camera footage of the killings and brutality has inspired nationwide calls for improved accountability.
Many have come up with possible ways to diminish the violence, the most famous (and arguably misunderstood) of which is “defund the police.” Others have suggested having a more racially inclusive police force, sending mental health professionals instead of police to certain calls, and altering police culture and training.
Still the killings continue. Last year, there were more fatal police shootings than any year since the Washington Post began keeping track in 2015. Newsweek reports that 27% of those killed by police whose race is known were Black. Just 13% of the United States’ population is Black.
Bogausch’s idea struck many as unconventional but potentially effective.
Many who praised his suggestion said they have experience in the insurance industry.
“HE’S NOT LYING!!!!! Insurance companies have the best damn lawyers in the game and will make sure that police depts are held accountable,” wrote one.
Even some who were taken aback thought that it just might work. One called his plan “horrifying but genius.”
“Okay hold up… this makes total sense,” another person said.
A few skeptics dissented, opining that insurance companies would find a way to avoid paying.
Via direct message, Bogausch told the Daily Dot that he’s “still in disbelief” the TikTok went viral. “You never think it’ll happen to you.”
Bogausch said he’d describe the vast majority of police shootings as “avoidable,” adding that he plans to elaborate on this in a follow-up TikTok.
Bogausch said he’s dealt with insurance companies in the past, but that there wasn’t one particular experience that gave him the idea.
“I was just sitting at my desk and saw the guy asking white people to duet his video and that thought just popped in my head.”
