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submitted 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world

Summary

Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare, was fatally shot in a premeditated attack outside the New York Hilton Midtown before speaking at an investor conference.

The gunman, still at large, fired multiple times, leaving shell casings marked with the words “deny,” “defend,” and “depose.”

Authorities suggest Thompson was targeted but remain unclear on the motive. His wife confirmed prior threats against him.

Analysts speculate a possible vendetta tied to his company. The case raises questions about executive security, as Thompson lacked personal protection despite known risks.

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[-] Voroxpete@sh.itjust.works 265 points 1 week ago

"The motive remains unclear" is one of those things that, as a journalist, you know you have to write because it is absolutely the truth, but you hate yourself for every letter of every word because you know how fucking stupid it sounds given the circumstances.

[-] Railcar8095@lemm.ee 116 points 1 week ago

"I mean, there are millions of people with motive. Which one in particular we will hopefully never know"

[-] ImADifferentBird 28 points 1 week ago

I feel like this is going to end like Murder on the Orient Express, where...

Tap for spoiler... it turns out that literally everyone took turns shooting him.

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 64 points 1 week ago

Unless it turns out he was murdered by, for example, an irate shareholder who didn't make the money he wanted to make.

There is more than one reason he could have been murdered.

[-] rumba@lemmy.zip 30 points 1 week ago

Murder bingo, murder scavenger hunt, time traveler trying to stop the future apocalypse no lack of options....

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[-] Whitebrow@lemmy.world 26 points 1 week ago

“It is still unclear which of the potential motives caused the man to pull the trigger”

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[-] RootBeerGuy@discuss.tchncs.de 188 points 1 week ago

"We do not know why" haha, take a wild guess, please!

[-] Iheartcheese@lemmy.world 82 points 1 week ago

It's unclear because there's a few different reasons somebody would want this man dead

[-] dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world 51 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

No, it's because they are immensely fearful of admitting the reason because they know a lot of other people would agree and it would potentially upset the status quo so much. And that would be bad for their masters.

Especially if it turned out to be contagious.

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 28 points 1 week ago

It's because they literally don't know who killed him yet. You don't have to come up with a silly conspiracy theory when the obvious answer is that they don't know who killed him yet and they don't know why he was killed yet.

Someone who does bad things can be killed for other reasons. John Lennon was not assassinated for beating and otherwise abusing his wives and girlfriends. The guy who killed Jeffrey Dahmer in prison did it because he thought, but wasn't sure, that Dahmer poked him in the back.

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[-] Treczoks@lemmy.world 31 points 1 week ago

They probably don't know which of the hundreds of thousands cases of killing and suffering were actually the cause.

[-] ChaoticEntropy@feddit.uk 151 points 1 week ago

The case raises questions about executive security

Thankfully it doesn't raise any questions about the place of billionaire CEOs of companies making life and death decisions for the general populace for the sake of their overflowing pocket book. Boy would that be awkward.

[-] Cargon@lemmy.ml 26 points 1 week ago

The case raises questions about executive security

Weird. I don't have any questions about that.

[-] oxjox@lemmy.ml 26 points 1 week ago
[-] ChaoticEntropy@feddit.uk 48 points 1 week ago

Sure, he was in the upswing of his career making $20m a year since 2021. Also being investigated for fraud/insider trading for selling $15m of stocks before results of a federal antitrust investigation became public. Sounds swell.

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[-] IndustryStandard@lemmy.world 123 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

I sure hope nobody copies this behavior of retribution against the billionaire class which is responsible for almost all of the worlds suffering.

Thoughts and Prayering so hard right now.

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[-] Dasus@lemmy.world 106 points 1 week ago

Authorities suggest Thompson was targeted but remain unclear on the motive.

Friggin Sherlock Holmes' over here.

The case raises questions about executive security

"We won't be pressured into changing the system we'll just protect the rich exploiters better"

[-] desktop_user 43 points 1 week ago

if it costs less to defend the CEO than to provide good healthcare they will always go with increasing defense.

[-] fossilesque@mander.xyz 103 points 1 week ago
[-] homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world 78 points 1 week ago

Why Insurance Companies Don't Pay Claims And What You Can Do About It

Nope, still a complete mystery. Why it could have been any motive at all. A mugging gone wrong, perhaps? The gun accidentally went off while the guy was cleaning it while he walked around?

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[-] Milk_Sheikh@lemm.ee 100 points 1 week ago

Despite a fairly obvious motive in general before this news broke, and now confirmation it was because of their policies, they are doing zero soul searching or reexamination of why their policies became a motive

Thompson’s killing quickly sent shockwaves through the corporate world, with corporate security heads gathering in a conference call to Wednesday.

“Many of my colleagues today are sitting down with their executive protection team leaders, their security leadership teams, and re-evaluating what they are doing and not doing,” Dave Komendat, president of Seattle-based Komendat Risk Management Services

Who had neo-Pinkertons on their 2020s bingo?

[-] sudo@programming.dev 32 points 1 week ago

Pinkerton's still exist but are under the Swedish firm Securitas 🔴🔴🔴.

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[-] taiyang@lemmy.world 98 points 1 week ago

To those upset that this is headline news because he's rich, remember that exposure breeds copycats.

[-] ovalofsand@lemmy.world 55 points 1 week ago

It would be a shame if the rich got eaten. I do not support eating the rich

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[-] peto@lemm.ee 65 points 1 week ago

Shootings must be rare in NYC given how much attention this one is getting.

[-] dhork@lemmy.world 25 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Um ackshually, NYC is doing better than many other places, at least as far as per-capita homicide statistics go, according to this list I pulled out of Wikipedia:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_by_crime_rate

Sort by "murder and nonnegligent manslaughter" and you find NYC way down on the list. St. Louis, Baltimore, and Detroit is on the top. NYC is not even the worst in the state anymore, Buffalo is worse.

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[-] Blackmist@feddit.uk 60 points 1 week ago

Authorities suggest Thompson was targeted but remain unclear on the motive.

Aye, that sure is a mystery for the ages. Maybe he cut somebody up in traffic?

[-] Nasan@sopuli.xyz 28 points 1 week ago

Didn't return the shopping cart

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[-] NauticalNoodle@lemmy.ml 60 points 1 week ago

what's the phrase -I've never wished death upon a person but I've read some obituaries with great satisfaction?

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[-] ellen_musk_0x@lemm.ee 53 points 1 week ago

The case raises questions about executive security,

Of course this is the lesson. Not that everyone hates you, your company, the business, etc. It's not our actions. We just need security.

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[-] tyrant@lemmy.world 51 points 1 week ago

To those complaining this is news because this is a rich white CEO and shouldn't be. It's fascinating to me because it seems like vengeance. It seems like it was well planned. It seems like the killer may have had a personal beef with the insurance company. I don't usually follow things like this but I think insurance companies are genuinely evil. This one has my interest.

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[-] nutsack@lemmy.world 45 points 1 week ago

authorities remain unclear about the motive

the authorities are fucking idiots

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[-] not_that_guy05@lemmy.world 43 points 1 week ago

Insurance companies hate this one trick.

But no honestly, why are they acting like CEOs are fucking important?

Just parasites is all they are.

[-] NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zip 23 points 1 week ago

Apparently the board (?) still held the meeting the CEO was on his way to when he got got.

So... this isn't even a "trick" in that regard.

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[-] cogman@lemmy.world 38 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

LMAO. It's hilarious to me how basically nobody is mourning the death of this dude. Hopefully it is making other insurance leadership start to rethink their careers.

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[-] Zink@programming.dev 29 points 1 week ago

Boy I hope no future healthcare CEO assassins copy this calling card, and I especially hope their bullet shells aren’t covered with the names of people killed by the CEO’s company denying them healthcare.

Not only would that encourage more copy cats, but it would really capture people’s attention and get them thinking about the issue. If the public starts considering crazy propaganda like how seeking maximum profit at the expense of widespread human suffering might not be life’s most noble pursuit, just imagine what could happen!

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[-] LiveLM@lemmy.zip 27 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Damn, he was really about sending a message 😬

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[-] Duke_Nukem_1990@feddit.org 23 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Every single billionaire has working class people in their direct employ. Just saying.

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[-] peopleproblems@lemmy.world 22 points 1 week ago

"Thompson lacked personal protection despite known risks."

Oh. Oh ho ho. That is an interesting bit of information.

Not the lacking personal protection. That does surprise me, but not a lot.

What does surprise me is the "despite known risks."

Was he that arrogant? Or do they, the powerful, greedy, and heartless, fear the wrong things?

Interesting to consider. The primal instinct to fear for ones life drives the most basic of biology. Is it possible, that this class of individuals lacks that fear? Or is it that there is something that fear more?

I think we all know the answer to that, of course. They fear losing power and wealth. That's quite a vulnerability. They protect that wealth and power more than their own life. I feel like I've heard about consequences to that.

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this post was submitted on 05 Dec 2024
796 points (100.0% liked)

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