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.
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”
“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.
Man, it’d be a shame if his life insurance company dropped coverage for that.
The assassin was a pre-existing condition, a condition caused by his last workplace, clearly.
This is the part that keeps running through my mind.
The motherfucker ain’t stupid. He knows that as the CEO of an insurance company he is bound to be hated by lots of people, and yet he chooses to go without Private Security? Bruh. All those fucking dollars, couldn’t spare some to increase his chance of survival eh?
Did the almighty dollar cloud his thoughts so much he thought he couldn’t die no more? He thought he was above the rules of the physical plane? Dude thought he was gonna re-sleeve like Altered Carbon
He was that arrogant, and the powerful and rich don’t know actual fear at all until they meet a guy like the one this CEO met.
https://delaydenydefend.com/ It’s a book reference.
One bullet said “depose,” not “delay.”
It may not be a direct reference to the book, but I would just about bet that the author didn’t come up with the bon mot from scratch.
“Depose” in particular is interesting. It could certainly be a broader social comment about a perceived ruling class, but it also has a specific meaning in the context of civil litigation. I would imagine that some glib corporate attorneys have used those exact three words in sequence, in connection with UHC and others: Deny the claim, defend the lawsuit, depose the patients, where “depose” means conduct a lengthy and expensive and stressful set of questions, done outside the courtroom and with very little off limits because it’s expected the judge will rule on admissibility later. All of it wears out the claimant, who clearly needed the coverage and will almost by definition lack the same resources to pursue the lawsuit.
No, the original phrasing is from the perspective of the insurance company. The bon mot is the answer.
- UHC: “Delay, Deny, Defend.”
- Patients: “Deny, Defend, Depose.”
UHC says (1), patients answer with (2).
If it’s in the book, then point happily conceded. If not, I reckon it could work either way. Everybody hates depositions.
Artistic flourish by the assassin. He did the “depose” without “delay”.
I’m choosing to see it that way too. Dude substituted “delay” for “get this motherfucker outta here forever”
Because he was deposed without further delay.
WHY INSURANCE COMPANIES DON’T PAY CLAIMS AND WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT
That subtitle kinda hits different these days…
The thing about United Healthcare is that it has always been the very worst one of of our terrible for profit health insurance companies.
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?
drink more ovaltine
Was the CEO drinking? Might have brought it on himself.
To those upset that this is headline news because he’s rich, remember that exposure breeds copycats.
Oh no, how terrible.
It would be a shame if the rich got eaten. I do not support eating the rich
If you’re going to, use some sweet baby rays.
Or maybe a sauce that’s not owned by a decent sized corporation pulling in 10s of millions a year…?
Shop local, get it from a farmer’s market
A better choice for ya:
Homemades the way to go for sure but idgaf what BBQ sauce someone decides to use. I didn’t say use fucking kc masterpiece.
I didn’t say you did. I was specifically commenting on the sweet baby Ray’s.
If you’re going to eat the rich, don’t give more money to the rich when you season them…
Surely you’d make an exception if the mass-market seasoning used on a CEO was sold by that CEO’s own company!
¾ cup yellow mustard
½ cup honey
¼ brown sugar
½ cup apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon of ketchup
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon garlic powder, or ½ tsp fresh finely minced garlic
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper powder
½ teaspoon salt
For extra spice ½ teaspoon or more of your favorite hot sauce.
Combine in a saucepan, and whisk together till smooth
Heat to a simmer, and low simmer for 10 minutes, stirring constantly
Store in the fridge overnight.
I don’t want food poisoning
I finally know what certain people meant when they kept talking about “good guys with guns”.
“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.
Nah, that’s a cop out. They could absolutely find somebody speculating on the motive to quote if they wanted to.
Yeah, just put a random tweet in like they usually do
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.
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.
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.
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.
As I said to someone else, do you really believe this was done by pro-Palestine activists?
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.
No I don’t think it has anything to do with Palestine, and everything to do with this book
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.”
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.
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.
Murder bingo, murder scavenger hunt, time traveler trying to stop the future apocalypse no lack of options…
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.
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. *
Or the words on the casings are intended to direct you to the wrong solution. Because, again in the real world, people who commit premeditated crimes throw police off the scent intentionally.
Ehh, I think Occam would have the better of that here.
In any case. (no pun intended) Maybe they’ll spend a few minutes reflecting on the own mortality while they’re ripping us off thinking there’s no recourse.
Ehh, I think Occam would have the better of that here.
Would you say the same about this?
People commit crimes and then pin the blame on someone else literally every day. It’s like the easiest way to try to get away with a crime.
Ah yes. “The murderer must be playing 5d chess to fool people” angle. It’s an angle, but not a reasonable one. How much Scooby Doo have you watched?
It takes “5D chess” to write vague words on bullet casings?
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.
I am guessing you do not know enough about him personally to know what is the most probable. Maybe he very openly cheats on his wife. That would make his wife hiring a hit man very probable. Maybe he’s swindled someone out of a ton of money on a personal level rather than via UHC. Again, that would make a good motive to kill him.
We do not have enough information here and pretending we do is not very wise.
True, it’s possible he has numerous enemies.
But what I can say is the average person doesn’t have people wanting to kill them. If all things are equal, and given the message written on the casings, there seems to be one that is currently the most probable.
He MAYBE fucked around on his one wife causing embarrassment.
He CERTAINLY fucked around with THOUSANDS of people causing DEATH.
It’s worthwhile to consider alternatives but it’s unwise to paint all scenarios as equally likely.
It’s also unwise to come to a conclusion when the person who did it hasn’t even been identified.
Obviously there are many plausible scenarios, but one of them scales significantly differently than the others.
If there are many plausible scenarios, even if one is the most plausible, it’s silly to assume that’s the one.
It’s only silly if one misunderstands an assumption to be established fact.
If I hear hoofbeats, I will assume horses, not zebras.
If I see Zebras, I’ll say my assumption was wrong. No shame in it. I’m wrong all the fucking time, being right isn’t part of my identity.
But until then, if someone says “what do figure those hoofbeats are?” I’m not going to say “50/50 horses or zebras”
Assumptions are claimed to be established facts. That’s what an assumption is. You’re making a claim of fact without having the evidence.
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.
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!”
“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.
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.
“It is still unclear which of the potential motives caused the man to pull the trigger”
“deny,” “defend,” and “depose.”
He literally left the manifesto there and they can’t figure it out.
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.
“The motive remains unclear”
Was it him that got denied, or was it a recently deceased family member?
There’s several options.
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.
Or course. He’s Ebaneezer Scrooge without the redemption arc.
Every single billionaire has working class people in their direct deploy. Just saying.
Many household objects can be used as weapons. Just saying.
Damn, he was really about sending a message 😬
I don’t give two flying fucks about the investigation of this case. A dead shitty CEO of a company that has openly declined more coverage to those who’d need it most, is good news to me and all that I want to know.
Kudos to the gunman.
I’d say, the gunman is a world hero.
Make money ruining the well being of families, eventually retribution will be had.
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?
Didn’t return the shopping cart
Probably cyberbullied him back in the day.
There’s a gulf of difference between jumping to an obvious conclusion and actually doing the investigative work to really answer the question. The police aren’t dumb and are probably just as sure as the rest of us as to the motive that will be found. However, they still need to make that determination based on real evidence, especially if it’s going to go to court. So, “it’s unclear” until they have something which provides strong evidence of a motive.
Ya, I’d be putting all my chips on this being someone who was on the receiving end of a denied claim. But, you never know when it’s going to end up being the guy failing to pay up to the Russian Mafia or some other situation which resulted in a targeted attack. I’m not going to defend all the actions of the police, but they do occasionally stop shooting kids long enough investigate crimes properly.
The police aren’t dumb
What? Since when?
CEOs around the world scrambling to hire security.
CEOs of security companies are popping champagne bottles.
Plot twist. The shooter owns a high level personal security business and was just drumming up potential clients.
