The shell casing from the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson reportedly had these words inscribed on them: deny, defend, depose.
That is the title of a 2010 book about the insurance industry’s failure to pay claims. Is that a clue as to the motive of his murder?
The shooter has not been found but online sleuths tracked a Citibike that left the scene of the crime and traveled up the Upper East Side. And police have also released this unmasked photo of the shooter.
Online, this has turned into a “John Wick-meets-Erin Brockovich” theory. Some have been celebrating the downfall of a powerful executive for the failures of his industry. That is Bolshevik.
Former Washington Post journalist Taylor Lorenz posted the name of Thompson’s successor on Bluesky, along with fodder for why the company should be hated for their refusal to cover anesthesia for some surgeries.
“And people wonder why we want these executives dead,” she said.
She was one of many celebrating the murder as a vigilante cause. He was a husband and father of two boys. This is nobody’s victory story.
