UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting supporters may target police, courts: Analysts

Less than two weeks after UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was gunned down on the streets of midtown Manhattan, his alleged killer, Luigi Mangione, has received not only universal condemnation of the vicious violence, but an outpouring of passionate online support for him. Called vigilante justice.

The Center for Internet Security (CIS), a nonprofit organization focused on cybersecurity that partners with government and law enforcement, released a new threat assessment bulletin warning that online support for the alleged shooter risks encouraging copycat attacks.

The “tremendous bipartisan support for the attack” across social media has led to several narratives encouraging similar violent activity targeting other healthcare executive teams, CIS analysts said.

“Narratives supporting Mangione’s targeted attack serve to galvanize like-minded individuals, especially as the public continues to view Mangione as an ‘American hero’ and a sympathetic figure,” the CIS newsletter said.

Threats, he added, “are likely to arise from individuals motivated by personal grievances, socio-political or ideological views, or in response to high-profile controversial cases, as a result of Thompson’s recent death.”

Threats have surfaced online and multiple “want” signs have appeared depicting New York City health care executives. Such “implicit and explicit lists of impacts increase current risks,” writes CIS.

In Altoona, Pennsylvania, where Mangione was captured on Monday, local police told ABC News that they faced threats and negative blows for arresting the suspect, as did the McDonald’s that arrested him.

CIS has assessed that it is “likely to continue looking at threats to (law enforcement) and other public officials involved in Mangione’s case.”

Once extradited, second-degree murder and other charges are pending against Mangione in New York, where he will eventually face trial.

In it, CIS warns that the court itself could be a target, likely to be “encouraged and encouraged” by people who “want to replicate” Mangione’s alleged actions.

“Due to the widespread public support for the incident, law enforcement and others associated with Mangione’s arrest are at increased risk of being targeted,” the bulletin said.

“Courts litigating Mangione’s case should be prepared to avoid actual bomb threats and pro-Mangione demonstrations,” as well as slaps and doxes, CIS wrote.

Mangione’s alleged actions have fueled a public appreciation of violence as a “catalyst for change,” CIS said, adding that “the belief that the killing proved violent action is an effective form of protest.”

The healthcare industry “is likely, along with the pharmaceutical industry, to be particularly vulnerable to widespread support for acts of violence aimed at many people directly facing the challenges of insurance coverage,” said CIS’s newsletter, shared by “many” social media users. referring to their negative experiences with insurance providers.

The shooting prompted “expressions of negative sentiment and threats,” including uproar and renewed focus on a new policy on the limits of anesthesia coverage approved by Elevance Health that it announced in November.

Then, after Brian Thompson’s murder, Elevance reversed the policy “amid threatening statements,” CIS said.

“Several publications targeted the CEO of Elevance Health,” CIS wrote, “while other companies were also mentioned as possible future targets.”

But the flow of hostility may not be confined to the healthcare industry, the newsletter said. “The threat is likely to extend to executives in other corporate sectors who are perceived by the public to be working against the interests of the American public,” CIS wrote.