This past Wednesday, Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthCare was shot and killed outside of the New York Hilton Midtown. It appears to have been an assassination attempt, as the assailant was waiting outside the building for him.
The man was 50 years old, just a few months younger than me. He had a wife and two sons. Losing your father is never easy. And I can only imagine that losing a father in such a particularly violent fashion must be even more difficult.
I’m not defending the guy. In fact, I think he was a scumbag. His business choices led to awful lot of Americans being denied healthcare coverage. As a result, a lot of people got sicker or even died under his stewardship of UnitedHealthCare. in fact, per his Wikipedia page, UHC declined insurance claims at a rate that was double that of the industry average.
I think it gets me as a way that people on social media, who are exercising “digital courage“ and elevating this unknown assassin to some kind of folk hero.
This kind of stuff pisses me off. This is a perfect example of what I called “digital courage”. The people who make this kind of stuff post it to social media wouldn’t have the guts to say someone in real life.
The American health care system is a joke. It is, BY FAR, the biggest racket in this country. I fully support the idea of universal health care in the United States. I get it A lot of Americans are suffering under our current healthcare system. But even more Americans are suffering because they don’t have access healthcare.  A more appropriate designation for what passes as health care in the country would be “illness maintenance”. I mean, how much money can one make be made in curing people? It’s much more financially lucrative to keep people ill. 
what I can’t get behind is the idea of people glorifying this guy’s assassin; turning him into some kind of folk hero. One of the most I ports T lessons I’ve learned in life is “two wrongs do not make a right”. Was this guy just another money-loving CEO? Absolutely. I cannot, in good conscience justify his murder.
I’m amazed that local law enforcement still hasn’t found the assassin yet. There’s a Wikipedia page on Thompson’s assassination that shows still still photos and even video from his death. It also includes coordinates to the attackers location at numerous times leading up to the assassination. With all of the increased surveillance footage in this post 9/11 world, how have they still NOT found of this guy yet?
I’m sure we’ll still hear more about this in the days and weeks to come. And I’m thoroughly convinced that they will absolutely find the assassin. But what I wonder about it is the assassin’s modes. If he was really outraged about the state of American healthcare system. Not suggesting that criminal acts such as this are justified in the move to our form healthcare in our country. But I think actions like this. Illustrate just how desperate some Americans truly are for more accessible health care.
UPDATE: before I could post this, I’m getting CNN is reporting that police in Pennsylvania have arrested a man matching the suspect’s description.
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The article “Digital Courage & the Assassination of Brian Thompson” first appeared on Rebuilding Rob.
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