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The fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson has triggered a wave of rage-filled reactions on social media, most of them expressing contempt and dissatisfaction for the health insurance industry he represented.
Thompson was gunned down early Wednesday morning in Midtown Manhattan, in what police have called a "premeditated, preplanned, targeted attack." He'd been walking to the Residences Hilton Club on West 54th Street near Sixth Avenue to help set up an investor conference sponsored by UnitedHealthcare when a masked gunman opened fire, striking him in the back and the leg.
The CEO was expected to give a speech at the event, but he was instead pronounced dead less than 30 minutes after the shooting.
In wake of the killing, Taylor Lorenz, once a journalist for the Washington Post, took to Bluesky to share a photo of Blue Cross Blue Shield CEO Kim Keck. Her post came after BCBS announced it would no longer cover anesthesia for the entirety of some surgeries.
"And people wonder why we want these executives dead," Lorenz wrote Wednesday.
Her post quickly received backlash from many accusing her of calling for violence.
On Thursday, Lorenz appeared on "TMZ Live" to clarify her remarks, saying she wasn't calling for insurance executives to be killed but had no sympathy for Thompson's death either.
"Let me be super clear: No, we should not murder CEOs. No, we should not go around shooting people on the street. That is the wrong lesson to take from this."
She said it was important to note the context of her original post was being left out of the reaction to it.
"When you see the entire internet -- left and right -- united around one thing, and that is celebrating the death of a healthcare CEO, you have to ask 'Why?' and I don't think that has been discussed at all," she explained. "There's no discussion of the systemic cruelty in our healthcare system, or the fact that thousands of Americans die because CEOS like (Thompson) and others deny essential life-saving care to Americans."
Lorenz said she shares in the celebration because "it feels like someone stood up to this barbaric, evil, cruel, violent system."
"Am I advocating for them to be killed? No, of course not," she said. "But am I going to shed tears or have a lot of empathy for someone who has facilitated the deaths of thousands of innocent Americans through intentionally denying them coverage? I am not going to weep over it."
Lorenz emphasized she's calling for "non-violent change," adding that she hopes "people in power can look at this outpouring of sentiment and see this is a problem in society. This is something we should address before we see further violence."
Lorenz wasn't the only person to express ire toward the health insurance industry following Thompson's slaying. Scores of others took to social media to share their frustration while others seemed to delight in the death of the executive.
"When you shoot one man in the street it's murder," one person wrote on X. "When you kill thousands of people in hospitals by taking away their ability to get treatment you're an entrepreneur."
Several users in various TikTok videos made comments such as "my condolences are out of network."
Columbia School of Social Work professor Anthony Zenkus echoed the sentiment with a snarky post of his own.
"Today, we mourn the death of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, gunned down...." he wrote. "Wait, I'm sorry -- today we mourn the deaths of the 68,000 Americans who needlessly die each year so that insurance company execs like Brian Thompson can become multimillionaires."
Thompson, a 50-year-old father of two based in Minnesota, joined the parent UnitedHealth Group in 2004, climbing the ranks until he became CEO of UnitedHealthcare in April 2021, according to his LinkedIn.
A manhunt for the gunman, who has not been identified, is still ongoing. Authorities on Thursday released new images of the smiling suspect and called on the public for assistance in the case.
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