*As we reported, UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was gunned down outside of the Midtown Hilton early in the morning of December 4, 2024.
The attack has been described as “brazen” and “targeted.”
But why doesn’t anyone seem to give a damn?
Early police reports identified the shooter as “light-skinned,” a vague descriptor that was all but subtle in its racialization of the shooting. Closed-circuit camera footage would reveal a humanizing glimpse of a smiling, handsome young man CNN has called “The CEO Shooter.”
The pop cultural appeal of a handsome cold-blooded killer is as apparent as the stench from a ripe diaper.
Capitalists Who Hate Capitalism
The static disdain for CEOs and the capitalist nature of American health care, and the entire situation is ready-made to be dissected, ridiculed, and serialized throughout society, crystalizing on social media.
The cinematic nature of the crime was further hammered home by the first clues recovered from the scene; three shells inscribed with the words “deny,” “defend,” and “depose.” Further coverage revealed “Deny, Defend, and Depose: Why Insurance Companies Don’t Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It,” is the title of a book written by Rutgers Law professor Jay M. Feiman is a book that delves deep into the industry standards of denying coverage.
Crime Me a River
CNN reports that a Facebook post by UnitedHealth Group expressing sadness over the murder of CEO Brian Thompson got 62,000 reactions, 57,000 of which were laughing emojis. It’s a cold, cold world and the anonymity of the internet makes it that much colder.
Social media platforms are littered with testimonies of individuals speaking about how they or a loved one suffered under the policies of companies like UnitedHealthcare.
AHIP (America’s Health Insurance Plans), a major lobbying and trade org for health insurers, criticized the social media reactions.
“The people in our industry are mission-driven professionals working to make coverage and care as affordable as possible and to help people navigate the complex medical system,” Mike Tuffin, CEO of the trade association, AHIP, said in a statement. “We condemn any suggestion that threats against our colleagues – or anyone else in our country – are ever acceptable.”
My dad battled prostate cancer, and UnitedHealthcare denied him experimental treatments that might have saved his life. I don’t have sympathy for that CEO because there was none for my father, who fought to the very end and lost his battle with cancer. Fuck that CEO
— Andre X ☭ 🇵🇸 (@LakeShowBoy24) December 6, 2024
Context For the Perplexed
According to the consumer research site ValuePenguin, UnitedHealthcare had the highest denial rates for in-network claims of any major insurance company in 2023-a third of claimants were turned down. That’s double the industry average of 16 percent.
Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield announced a policy that would have them cease coverage of anesthesia after some time on November 1, 2024. This policy was dredged up in the immediate aftermath of the murder of Brian Johnson by social media sleuths and retracted a day later in December. Coincidence? Perhaps.
American Apathy on Full Display
A group of individuals gathered in Washington Square Park for a CEO Shooter Look-a-Like Contest last weekend. A story on TMZ described the online reaction to the event as polarizing. Much of the outward reaction appears to be in celebration of, or apathy toward, the shooter. Very few social media posts appeared to show compassion, sorrow, or even outrage for Johnson’s murder.
Further indications of how “unbothered” people are by the murder of a rich, white millionaire can be found in another story, also from TMZ, which reportedly found that Reddit users speculated how the brand of jacket the shooter was wearing and settled upon a Trucker Jacket by Levi’s and sold at Macy’s. According to an item popularity tool from Macy’s, the jacket sold 700 times in 48 hours.
A man is dead and, try as we may, people can’t seem to feel any compassion for a father who leaves behind a wife and two children. We just see a symbol of one of our country’s greatest pains; our health care system. For all anyone knows at this point, Brian Thompson could have been a good guy, a charitable guy, a guy who advocated for others. But the people have been overwhelmingly in favor of lionizing a murderer because of who the victim was.
I didn’t check the mail yet, but I’m pretty sure I didn’t receive my “Brian Thompson Got Shot” check. How about you? Maybe this could qualify as a victory for the people when that check is funded, printed, and cashed. Until then, he’s just another victim who got caught up in callous Gotham.
UPDATE
On December 9, 2024, NYPD announced that a strong person of interest was in custody being questioned in the murder of Brian Thompson.
The suspect has been identified as Luigi Mangione, a 26-year-old Ivy League graduate with ties to Maryland. His Facebook page shows he studied at the University of Pennsylvania. He was reportedly going for his M.S. E. and B.S.E. in Computer Science at Penn.
The suspect came to the attention of law enforcement in Altoona, PA after a citizen spotted him at a McDonalds. Authorities say he had a manifesto that expressed hostility toward the healthcare industry.
MORE NEWS ON EURWEB.COM: Gunman Uses Silencer in Fatal Shooting of UnitedHealth Group CEO Brian Thompson in Midtown Manhattan | WATCH-it-Happen!
