New Yorkers have gathered for a questionable lookalike competition for the killer of UnitedHealthCare CEO Brian Thompson just days after he was gunned down.
Dressed in hoods and face coverings, eight men took part in the crude event in Washington Square Park on Saturday morning as the frantic manhunt for Thompson’s killer continues.
The winner, as voted for by the cheers of dozens of onlookers, received $50 and said he has his own complaints about health insurance companies although he was not a UnitedHealthcare customer.
Another contestant donned an ominous handwritten sign that read ‘Deny Defend Depose’ – the three words found on the shell casings used to shoot dead the millionaire CEO.
The winner said that he headed towards the park in Manhattan after learning of the contest on Saturday morning, which was advertised with posters around the city.
He said after his victory: ‘There was a post about a lookalike competition, I thought I could probably shave my moustache and put on my normal outfit.
‘I think I could pull it off a little bit, I didn’t get to see if he has hair so that helps a little. Plus he has a mask on, it’s not hard to do that.
‘The jacket I definitely had, somebody ran an impromptu vote among people that were here and I got the most cheers. I did not make any money.
‘I appreciate the vote of confidence, supposedly there was money involved and I said I would give half to Palestinian relief. I don’t know who or anyone that organized it.’
‘Bro I don’t know if you all should be doing this – but your life choices I guess,’ shouted a passer-by as the contestants stood together, reported the New York Post.
New York Police Department (NYPD) first released the striking images of the thought to be hitman on Thursday, with one picture showing him grinning as he supposedly flirted with a woman working at a youth hostel where he was staying.
The FBI, Crime Stoppers and the NYPD are promising a $60,000 (£47,000) reward for information that leads to the gunman’s arrest.
The ‘net is tightening’ on the smiling assassin, reported New York City mayor Eric Adams as the contest got underway.
The killer’s identity is known to police as the search entered its fourth day, but authorities are not planning to disclose it to the public at this stage.
‘We don’t want to release that now,’ Adams said.
‘If you do, you are basically giving a tip to the person we are seeking and we do not want to give him an upper hand at all.
‘Let him continue to believe he can hide behind the mask. We revealed his face. We’re going to reveal who he is and we’re going to bring him to justice.’
The killer’s distinctive backpack was found by Police in a second sweep of Central Park on Friday evening, with a jacket and monopoly money inside.
The unnamed gunmen spent only minutes inside the park as he fled the scene of the crime. He entered at 6:48am and was next seen on 77th Street in Manhattan at 6:56am.
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