Assassination of United Healthcare CEO

[Pixel42]

UnitedHealthcare CEO fatal shooting: what we know so far

Police search for gunman after Brian Thompson, 50, killed in Manhattan in ‘brazen targeted attack’

www.theguardian.com

3. Thompson’s wife has said that he had been receiving threats​

In a phone call to NBC News, Paulette Thompson said: “There had been some threats. Basically, I don’t know, a lack of coverage? I don’t know details. I just know that he said there were some people that had been threatening him.”

While she did not elaborate on “lack of coverage” to the network, the comment comes in the wake of backlash that UnitedHealthcare has experienced about their coverage. Earlier this year, protesters were arrested outside the company’s headquarters in Minnesota, and were reportedly there in an effort to shed light on the organization’s alleged “pattern of improper coverage denials”.

No way to know yet if this was indeed the motivation of the shooter, but it does seem a plausible possibility.

 

[dirtywick]

To understand is not necessarily to excuse. But nobody has sufficient information to actually understand anything yet, it's just speculation.

i don't think anyone made an excuse for anything. but maybe i will later, we'll see how this develops. as far as speculative understanding goes, purely as a matter of right and wrong goes you're getting into some pretty murky territory and some quantifiable harm done to many actual people when a health insurance ceo is making policy denying care to customers, but also making sure there's an extra $50m a year left over for him

 

[3point14]

Yeah but why? who elects you because of your bastard qualifications?
Is bastardtitude really the attribute that creates most stakeholder value?

Looks like US companies just keep on doing what lazy finance reporters want to hear, even if it coats billions in CEO compensation and lawsuits.

More fundamentally: why is anything in the general healthcare provider economy run for profit?

Because conentional, capitalist wisdom is that the best, and indeed only, motivation is profit. Altruism is a lie and government doesn't work.

 

[Calderaro]

what happened was regrettable!

 

[Andy_Ross]

They found three spent cartridges and three live rounds at the scene.

I would guess the shooter was using subsonic ammunition with his suppressor and hadn't tested it beforehand.
The gun was firing but not cycling cleanly as there wasn't enough energy in the recoil to completely cycle the mechanism leaving a round incompletely chambered. As a result he was having to re-rack the slide after every shot to clear it.

 

[Thermal]

Yeah in the morning in midtown Manhattan, couldn't think of anything less professional. And I've thought about it a lot.

Looks optimal to me. A rich CEO type is usually under practical security, like a safe home or guarded work building. The only time he's really vulnerable to the public is when he is on the sidewalk in transition. That's also why he needed to use a cheap gun with a silencer, ineffective though it might have been for sound suppression. The gun has to be a throwaway; you don't want to get caught on a ballistics match later. The silencer would not quiet it down much in the immediate vicinity, but maybe just enough to not attract a cop half a block away. At the same time, using a gun instead of a knife will discourage anyone in range from engaging you. The ebike is a perfect getaway vehicle in Manhattan- quick, agile, quiet, and after you turn a corner, you blend right in to everyone else. They'll find his outer jacket within a block or two. Police will be looking for a guy in, say, a black jacket. He will be wearing a light grey one under the lightweight black one, so if he is caught on any later video will seem to be some other anonymous ebiker.

I've thought about this a lot too.

ETA: Actually, I'm wrong about finding the jacket. It would be a lightweight windbreaker that he could roll up and take with him. Residual DNA evidence is too big a deal nowadays to be overlooked. Ordinarily, toss it in a trash can and assume no one would put two and two together if it was found, but it's a risk. If this was actually trash collection day a couple blocks away, it's outside the crime scene and not likely to have trash collection stopped so it would be long gone before police could find it, but still a risk. That's also why you do street killings in cold weather; more clothes to hide under and switch out of.

 

[Donal]

I'm kind of concerned about the debate over the shooter's technique. Some of you seem to have experience in this field.

The real story is probably going to be something mundane like the sidepiece finally figured out he's not leaving his wife so she got her cop friend to do it. A lot of cops I know have some fantasy about doing black ops.

 

[Donal]

I see some people here seem to be making excuses for this killing.
if you want to play by those rules, fine, but then don;t bitch about how violence is rising in the USA....

This isn't some opening shot in a class war but:

Some of us have been pointing out that the rich have been doing this to us for 50 years. We warned that eventually, folks will start shooting back.

You want to stop it? Go talk to the Death Cult Capitalists you carry water for. I can't cry for folks who pick a fight and get a bloody nose.

Why is it not violence to deny my kid life saving treatment? Why is it not violence to pour toxic waste into our air and water? Why is it not violence to prop up warlords and dictators who kill protestors? If someone does that stuff in the name of Allah, they are a terrorist. If they do it in the name of profit, they are a savy businessman.

 

[shemp]

Bullets fired at UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson had words written on them, officials say

Bullets that an unidentified gunman used to shoot and kill UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on Wednesday morning had words written on them, CBS News has confirmed.

The words "deny," "defend" and "depose" appeared on shell casings recovered from the scene of the shooting in New York City, according to law enforcement officials. The officials said they are examining whether the words relate to a possible motive involving insurance companies and their responses to claims. ABC News first reported this information.

 

[shemp]

what happened was regrettable!

Indeed, it's "quite unfortunate." Round up the usual suspects.

 

[Donal]

It is quite concerning. Thoughts and prayers.

 

[shemp]

It is quite concerning. Thoughts and prayers.

AKA the GOP Healthcare Plan.

 

[I Am The Scum]

I see some people here seem to be making excuses for this killing.
if you want to play by those rules, fine, but then don;t bitch about how violence is rising in the USA....

Why would we need to? You've been doing it for us for years.

 

[Thermal]

It is quite concerning. Thoughts and prayers.

Not covered under his plan.

 

[kookbreaker]

Police: "The shooter was one of your clients that was denied care by you.

United: "Sooooo, our entire client base?"

 

[Jack by the hedge]

Writing on the casings suggests the killer thought (or wanted to imply) he had some justification, but clearly was not so consumed by his own righteous fury that he didn't also think about getting away with it.

If it was an episode of Columbo it would be the guy who's going to get promoted to new CEO. They do say psychopaths can make very effective executives because they don't lose sleep over having to make hard choices that lose some people their jobs. I hadn't thought it might also mean they had to keep looking over their shoulder at each other.

 

[Donal]

I will say, on social media, the reaction seems the same across the political spectrum, with corproate backed centrists being the exception.

Its almost like the culture war ◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊ and everyhting else used to divide Americans is just a distraction and we all have a common opposition we didn't realize.

 

[Vixen]

Judging by the message on the bullets being similar to that of a book title, my first thought is that the shooter is part of some kind of a protest organisation, similar to the ones that demonstrated recently in Minnesota. If it is, then he will be identified and arrested quickly, as someone is bound to tip off the cops anonymously.

 

[3point14]

I will say, on sopcial media, the reaction seems the same across the political spectrum, with corproate backed centrists being the exception.

Its almost like the culture war ◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊ and everyhting else used to divide Americans is just a distraction and we all have a common opposition we didn't realize.

That's a feature, not a bug.

Distract, divide, dissemble.

 

[Donal]

Police: "The shooter was one of your clients that was denied care by you.

United: "Sooooo, our entire client base?"

Cops: "We're offering $10,000 for information leading to the arrest of the shooter"

United: "He denied claims for ambulance rides bigger than that."