this post was submitted on 05 Dec 2024
813 points (99.6% liked)

News

23634 readers
2785 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil


Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban. Do not respond to rule-breaking content; report it and move on.


2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.


Obvious right or left wing sources will be removed at the mods discretion. We have an actively updated blocklist, which you can see here: https://lemmy.world/post/2246130 if you feel like any website is missing, contact the mods. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted seperately but not to the post body.


3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.


Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.


4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source.


Posts which titles don’t match the source won’t be removed, but the autoMod will notify you, and if your title misrepresents the original article, the post will be deleted. If the site changed their headline, the bot might still contact you, just ignore it, we won’t delete your post.


5. Only recent news is allowed.


Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.


6. All posts must be news articles.


No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials or celebrity gossip is allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis.


7. No duplicate posts.


If a source you used was already posted by someone else, the autoMod will leave a message. Please remove your post if the autoMod is correct. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.


8. Misinformation is prohibited.


Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.


9. No link shorteners.


The auto mod will contact you if a link shortener is detected, please delete your post if they are right.


10. Don't copy entire article in your post body


For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

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.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] Voroxpete@sh.itjust.works 273 points 2 weeks ago (7 children)

"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 117 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

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

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.

[–] Gigasser@lemmy.world 4 points 2 weeks ago

Deny that you know or even saw them. Defend them if they do get caught, through protest, fundraising, bail, etc. Depose those who put them in jail if they are sentenced.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 59 points 2 weeks ago (4 children)

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 29 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

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

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world -3 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

Are you really suggesting that only possible realistic motive to murder him is because of his position at UHC?

I can think of so many plausible scenarios. I just gave you one, here's another: he was cheating on his wife, so she paid to have him killed, something that actually happens in the real world and doesn't involved time travelers.

I'm sure you would like this to be a just world where bad people get killed for good reasons, but that's not how the world works. Hitler's generals tried to assassinate him and it wasn't because they thought he was being too mean to the Jews.

[–] rumba@lemmy.zip 27 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (11 children)

Are you really suggesting

nope, just toying around with the concept, figured it would be about 3/5 on the joke scale.

edit: Though if you really wanted to get into it, the words scribed on the casings might direct you to a likely solution. *

load more comments (11 replies)
[–] Lightor@lemmy.world 11 points 2 weeks ago (7 children)

Possible vs Probable.

Lots of things are possible, sure, but his position and impact on people due to his position does make one very probable.

load more comments (7 replies)
[–] Windex007@lemmy.world 9 points 2 weeks ago (10 children)

Obviously there are many plausible scenarios, but one of them scales significantly differently than the others.

load more comments (10 replies)
[–] Voroxpete@sh.itjust.works 12 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Absolutely, hence why they do have to say that the motive is unclear. While we all have strong theories about why this happened, there are plenty of other possibilities that have to be considered. Could have been taken out by his family for insurance money, could have been a business rival, the guy might have gotten in shit with the mob. At this point they just don't know.

[–] Skiluros@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

The impression I got from when I lived in the US is that at his level, US oligarchs generally don't like getting their hands dirty and there are strong communal disincentives to disrespecting "honour among thieves" laws. All the oligarchs groups will gang up on you if you use direct violence against another oligarch.

From what I've read, the "mob" in the US largely has no power, definitely nothing on the level of Brian Thompson. Even transnational groups (Mexican cartels, EU gangs, central American gangs) keep a low profile in the US and make a concentrated effort to avoid publicity.

I will admit, family issues is a possibility. Difficult to say. The business rivalry or mob connection doesn't seem even in the realm of possibility, but I could be wrong.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 0 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Exactly. We just don't have enough information yet and it is just silly to assume this is some sort of just world where people behind atrocities that are subsequently murdered are murdered because of those atrocities.

[–] AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

He wrote Deny, defend, depose on the bullets. That's him speaking the language that the insurance industry uses. I would say that broadly, we know his motive. Who the company denied a claim for is the only real question here.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world -4 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

As I said to someone else, do you really believe this was done by pro-Palestine activists?

https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2024/10/free-gaza-messages-found-on-devices-at-burned-ballot-boxes-new-york-times-reports.html

It is silly to make assumptions based on three words. It's especially silly to assume someone isn't smart enough to make police think they're not the guilty party.

[–] AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world 4 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

No I don't think it has anything to do with Palestine, and everything to do with this book

https://delaydenydefend.com/

He switched delay to depose to send a clear message to the insurance industry. That message being, "there's a fourth step that you fuckers have forgotten in your three step strategy."

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world -5 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Maybe you should have at least read the name of the URL. I didn't say that this has anything to do with Palestine.

Please, if you're not going to read the article, at least read the name of the URL and then respond to me accordingly.

[–] AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I see what you are asking now. I can absolutely see that could be someone who was pro-palestinian setting ballot boxes on fire. It could be a false flag, but I'm not convinced either way.

This guy didn't have a good familiarity with his weapon. If he had test fired before he killed the CEO, he would have known that the spring on the gun was too strong for the ammo he was carrying and been able to swap one of the two out for a cleaner hit. That fact alone pretty much rules out a hired hitman. I'm no hitman, and I have much better familiarity with all my weapons than this guy seems to have had with his.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world -1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

You can hire someone who has never fired a gun before in their life to kill someone else. Which is also something that has happened before. People do things like pay their cousins to commit murder. And the person who gets paid can be really, really stupid.

https://www.heraldnet.com/news/lynnwood-man-gets-life-sentence-for-botched-murder-for-hire/

[–] Schmoo@slrpnk.net 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

If that were the case writing the words "deny," "defend," and "depose" on the bullet casings was a pretty stupid move, given that it calls attention to the atrocities said shareholder profits from. It seems most likely that the motive is exactly what the bullet casings suggest.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago

Which is exactly why someone would do it to make the police think it wasn't for another reason.

Really, I have no idea why all of you assume a criminal will say, "yep! It's me!"

[–] Nithanim@programming.dev 2 points 2 weeks ago

For some very weird reason it never crossed my mind, and I really do not know why, that I could invest in a huge healthcare corporation whose target it is to provide as little healthcare as possible. But your comment made me think about that that is possible to do.

[–] Whitebrow@lemmy.world 26 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

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

[–] Sabata11792@ani.social 11 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

“deny,” “defend,” and “depose.”

He literally left the manifesto there and they can't figure it out.

[–] Freefall@lemmy.world 7 points 2 weeks ago

He left "A" manifesto. I have never dealt with his company,but if I was hired to kill him I would most definately make look like a disgruntled parent if a dead kid or some such.

Hopefully he(another common assumption) never gets caught and we never know.

[–] grue@lemmy.world 17 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Nah, that's a cop out. They could absolutely find somebody speculating on the motive to quote if they wanted to.

[–] HK65@sopuli.xyz 13 points 2 weeks ago

Yeah, just put a random tweet in like they usually do

[–] ap1werks@sh.itjust.works 15 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)
[–] kent_eh@lemmy.ca 14 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

"The motive remains unclear"

Was it him that got denied, or was it a recently deceased family member?

There's several options.

[–] Draces@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago

That seems like terrible wording. Why not just say the motive is unconfirmed with the suspect if that's what's needed to state it as fact?