Summary
UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was fatally shot in a targeted attack outside a New York Hilton hotel, with investigators describing the killing as meticulously planned.
The gunman fled on foot, then by rental bike, and possibly left the city via bus. Shell casings at the scene had words like “deny” and “defend” inscribed, hinting at a motive linked to Thompson’s work.
Experts suggest the shooter may have military or weapons experience but left key clues, including surveillance footage and discarded items.
Police are analyzing evidence, including DNA, to identify the suspect.
I think, to enact real systemic change, we would need at least one big heroic deed.
Many small murders of billionaires is great… but something like a bomb in the boardroom, take out a whole C-suite with one blast, that would send the appropriate message to these social murderers.
Either way, we desperately need more heroes.
After writing my comment, I thought of mass shooters tweaking their tactic, and going to different kinds of locations. Like certain board rooms.
It’s going to be harder after Wednesday. I’m certain Sodexo, ABM, Cintas, etc are going to scrutinize all the support staff working at every F500 from now on, since that’s ideally the closest working class staff to any C-level.
And these C-levels are all gonna get private, armed security baked into their comp packages now - the guys who are actually competent, not John With His Dad’s Revolver.
…also risks killing innocent people in adjacent parts of the building.
The janitor and the guys fixing the elevator don’t need to become collateral damage.
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I don’t want to be a downer, but https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_of_the_deed has a long history of doing that and so far it kind of culminated in world war 1.
Certainly the assassination of Ferdinand is a proximate cause of WWI, but there were much greater forces in play. The great powers had giant mechanized armies for the first time, they had plans for the deployment of millions on very strict deadlines, and they had the belief that failure to meet those deadlines would mean national destruction.
I think it is more plausible to argue that propaganda of the deed helped to end the gilded age and usher in the New Deal era, which was America’s golden era.
I also act under political desperation. Only under the most optimistic assumptions will electoralism be able to save us from climate change; currently the most likely outcome is human extinction. If the propaganda of the deed has only a 5% chance of saving us from our modern gilded age and the resultant climate-induced end of civilization, then I say it is a chance we must take for we are running out of serious options.