Source: NYPD
A man was shot and killed in public in Midtown Manhattan, and the collective response around the internet has been massive indifference mixed with a lot of dark humor on social media.
@loloverruled
Let me say up front that the loss of any life – especially when it comes in a violent way – is always tragic and no laughing matter. Gun violence is a huge issue in this country, and the lawmakers we have put into power won’t do anything about it, so we are left with lots of guns and lots of people who use guns and lots of people who use guns to commit violent crimes.
@awalmartparkinglot
That said, when news broke Wednesday morning that United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson had been shot and killed on the streets of New York just before 7 a.m. while on his way to an investors conference at the Hilton Midtown, public sentiment became immediately apparent as people on social media went from leaving negative comments under videos of news reports talking about the shooting to creating their own posts and content by mocking the shooting, mocking the victim, outright praising the shooter and relaying their own horror tales about their personal dealings within the U.S. healthcare industry and specifically with healthcare insurance companies.
There are many who see the shooter – who may have been apprehended and identified on Monday – as some sort of hero who represents the everyday Joe fed up with the red tape and indifference of insurance companies that deny medical claims – denials that can and often do result in the death of those impacted.
@clare.elena still not as bad as the Rachel Berry comparisons
Even people who haven’t necessarily had those types of experiences with health insurance companies seem to be firmly on the side of those who have. The message, if we are to judge by social media responses alone, seems to be “eat the rich.”
Brian Thompson, 50, “received a total compensation package last year of $10.2 million, a combination of $1 million in base pay and cash and stock grants,” according to the New York Times.
@
UnitedHealthcare is a part of United Health Group, a corporation that is worth $562.1 billion.
In a world where nearly three out of four healthcare providers say they have seen an increase in claims being denied by insurance companies, the frustration is real from both a care provider as well as a patient standpoint.
When a company people depend on to take care of them in their time of need seems to be prioritizing profits for investors over the actual healthcare services they are supposed to be covering and providing for those who pay for their insurance products, it makes sense that people would be disgusted with the entire system.
To a lot of people, Brian Thompson represents that system – for better or for worse.
I don’t think anyone in these social media streets has a personal vendetta against Brian Thompson; they are just fed up with a system that doesn’t see them as people, and they are showing Thompson the same sort of indifference they believe they are receiving from the company he worked for and other companies like it.
@iamjahcylyn
So when you see people making TikTok posts featuring the headshots of other CEOs of billion-dollar healthcare companies and the million-dollar salaries they are making, these people aren’t so much putting a bounty on the heads of these front-facing corporate leaders as they are calling out corporate greed that puts money above the very human lives they are supposed to be protecting.
When you see people cracking jokes about and leaving balloon memorials at the scene of the shooting with a note that says “CEO down,” it isn’t that people have a complete and total disregard for human life; it’s that they are tired of being disregarded.
@teaandtruecrimewithbella #greenscreen #foryou #unitedhealthcare #newyork #healthcare #suspect #update #news #brianthompson #truecrimecomunnity
It is a collective exhaustion with the system that has caused people from seemingly every race, ethnicity, social class, and background to come together and cheer for the gunman who is currently still eluding the largest police department with one of the biggest budgets in the country.
When you see people in the comments sections of news reports saying their empathy is “out of network” and that the pleas made by police for the public to come forward with information that will help them locate the killer are “denied,” it’s because people are tired of being treated like they don’t matter.
@off_jawaggon United Health Care CEO Brian Thompson gets the claim on his next breathe denied and the internet is losing it. #uhc #brianthompson #healthcare #eattherich
They are tired of being treated like their families don’t matter.
They are tired of being denied the right to life in a country that claims to value life above all else.
At a time when our country is more divided than ever, watching everyone come together to display this much indifference about the killing of a CEO making millions of dollars while people suffer should be a reminder to those in power that eventually, people bite back.
@fees_on_deck BREAKING NEWS!!! They have a face! It wasn’t the face I was expecting, but it’s a face!! aaryastarkggameofthroneshhouseofstarkwwinterfellwwelcometotheshitshowvviralbblackpacthhitmanCCEOuunitedhealthcarennewyorkttrendingvideostiktokpkHHUMORffunnyvideosL#LAUGH
It should be a reminder that at the end of the day, one thing people will unite to fight against is the presumption of a type of power that renders the helpless and the hopeless powerless to fight for even the very basics – medicine, treatment, and care.
At this point, these healthcare companies should be taking notes and deciding what side of history they want to be on in the aftermath of all of this.
@culturework That damn smile #fyp #unitedhealthcare
Monique Judge is a storyteller, content creator and writer living in Los Angeles. She is a word nerd who is a fan of the Oxford comma, spends way too much time on Twitter, and has more graphic t-shirts than you. Follow her on Twitter @thejournalista or check her out at moniquejudge.com.
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