Dec 10, 2024 6 min read

Murder in the First World

The murder of a healthcare executive has many…cheering?

What was so unusual about the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was not that it happened at all—although that was unusual. High-ranking corporate executives are not typically victims of violent crime. Nor was it the location and time of day—although those too were unusual considering Thompson was slain around 6:45 AM in midtown Manhattan on his way to an investor meeting. Nor was it the political aspects of the killing—shell casings discovered at the scene had the words “Deny,” “Defend,” “Depose“ etched onto them in an apparent reference to common health insurance tactics to avoid paying out claims. Similarly, a bag full of Monopoly money was found nearby allegedly belonging to the shooter.

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No, what made the murder so unusual was the public reaction to it. The news was not met with sadness or even pensive acknowledgment. Instead, the internet erupted in jubilant celebration.

UnitedHealth Group’s Facebook post noting the loss of its top executive was met with a barrage of laughing emojis and scornful comments about how “thoughts and prayers” were “out of network.” The responses were so one-sided and brutal that the company limited who could comment and who could see the total numbers of reaction emojis. Across social media, Americans began sharing their horror stories of dealing with insurance companies.

“I was told I could get mutiparametric MRI of prostrate to detect/rule out cancer instead of painful biopsy,” one BlueSky user posted. “But then UnitedHealthcare--the ‘good’ tier plan--reversed and said since I had no symptoms they wouldn't pay. I wasn't sick enough to determine how sick I was.”

“And or course I did have it, and am happy to say I had radiation and that was a few years ago and all is well,” the added. “But still had to pay several thousand bucks, out of pocket limit, before they covered.”

“I’ve had UnitedHealthCare for years, but the last 2 yrs. they’ve SIGNIFICANTLY CUT BACK ON WHAT THEY’LL PAY,” another user wrote. “I’ve been going through cancer treatments & I’m having to pay higher out of pocket deductibles to get certain procedures done. It’s almost like not having insurance at all. Very frustrating.”

Journalist Taylor Lorenz published an article in her User Magazine Substack titled, “Why ‘we’ want insurance executives dead,” giving voice to much of the outrage and contextualizing it.

But for the political and media establishment, the response to Thompson’s murder was horrifying and seemingly surprising. The New York Times ran a headline that “some” online were treating the murderer like a folk hero. Right-wing commenters began blaming the left for the killing. Ben Shapiro posted a video accusing the “EVIL left” of cheering on violence. Political figures on both sides of the aisle also got in on the action. After a suspect was taken into custody in his state, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro chided that the shooter wasa no hero and that Americans “do not kill people in cold blood to resolve policy differences.”

But all of their criticisms of the murder and those celebrating were met with scathing rebukes and trolling.

“It’s not left or right,” one commenter responded to Ben Shapiro’s video. “It’s not black and white. It’s rich vs poor. Your true colors are showing.”

“The right are really siding with this CEO,” read another. “Seeing now I am parting ways. Billionaires don’t care about us.”

“You want us to turn this guy over to the police? Lol,” one X user posted in response to a tweet by Donald Trump Jr. calling for the internet to “find this guy,” meaning the suspect. “You’re rich- of course you wouldn’t understand.” The response got 21,000 likes.

“I didn’t see shit…what guy?” another popular response read.

It wasn’t merely leftists celebrating. Across the political spectrum, there was a near total lack of empathy for Thompson and an outpouring of support for his killer. The shooting exposed a deep vein of resentment toward health insurance companies—and corporate America more generally—reflective of a loss of faith in America’s institutions and system. After all, one top Wall Street banker went to jail for the 2008 financial crisis. Fossil fuel companies have been destroying the planet with impunity, leaving communities to pick up the pieces—and cover the costs.

Health insurance giants like UnitedHealthcare have been particularly unsympathetic corporate actors. Highlighting exactly how unsympathetic, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield came under fire this week for adopting—and subsequently reversing—a policy limiting coverage of anesthesia for surgeries that run too long.

The facts are fairly devastating. Americans pay more for healthcare than people in other developed countries and that cost is not reflected in health outcomes. America has a lower life expectancy than all but eight nations in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Meanwhile, medical debt is the leading cause of bankruptcy in the U.S. Americans routinely skip doctor visits due to cost. Research from 2020 published in The Lancet found that 68,000 American deaths could be prevented by the implementation of a Medicare for all system.

The COVID-19 pandemic hit the U.S. harder than most of the developed world—likely due to gaps in our system, including the lack of universal healthcare. Yet, in the 2024 presidential race, the issue of healthcare and insurance was virtually nonexistent.

With the suspect now in custody, revealed to be Luigi Mangione of the prominent Maryland Mangione family, more details will surely emerge in the coming days and weeks. Mangione has been charged with murder in the second degree.

For now, the killing of Brian Thompson has sparked a larger discourse about what violence we focus on in America—individual over systemic. Some also pointed out that the stabbing of two migrants the next day in a possible hate crime failed to generate even a fraction of the coverage.

Whether these discussions result in any changes remains to be seen. With the incoming Trump administration aiming to scale back government and regulations, it is seems unlikely.

CORRECTIONS: The version also claimed the shooting happened in broad daylight.

For more on this evolving story:

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