CDC, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The last few days have shown a paradigm shift of the consciousness of many Americans on both sides of the political aisle. The recent events regarding the United Health Care CEO, Brian Thompson, has revealed a startling yet unsurprising revelation about the public. 

One week ago, Brian Thompson, was shot and killed at point blank range from a masked shooter in New York City, at around 6:45 am. The aftermath of the events is unclear as the shooter was able to make a quick getaway from the authorities, managing to avoid detection from the most heavily surveilled city in the world. Central Park, where the shooter was last seen, made his disappearance possible due to the vastness of the area, coupled with the lack of surveillance infrastructure relative to the City.  However, according to AP News reports, police did find a duffel bag full of monopoly money and 3 shell casings that said “deny,” “defend,” and “depose.” This could be an allusion to the the title of a 2010 book, Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don’t Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It. The book was written by Jay M. Feinman, a legal scholar, insurance expert, and professor emeritus at Rutgers Law School.  On his website, the author explains, “Your insurer’s main objective is not to protect you; in fact, insurers often try to avoid paying justified claims. Today the name of the game is delay, deny, defend: to improve their profits, insurance companies delay payment of justified claims, deny payment altogether, and defend their actions by forcing claimants to enter litigation.” It also gives suggestions for how people can fight back against the insurance companies. Social media was quick to pick up on the story as people from all over the political spectrum came together to condemn the actions of, not the suspected killer, but the victim, Brian Thompson.

To explore reasons why this might be the case, it important to understand that UHC is one of the most controversial insurance agencies in the United States. They have the largest percentage of denied health claims in the country at over 30%. Essentially a third of Americans who use UHC due to employment reasons are denied access to life saving healthcare. This means that millions of Americans may have had issues with their claims and not getting the adequate help they need. Due to this fact alone it is understandable why many are angry at the company for their decision making policies. Many on social media claim that the shooter’s actions reflect the voices of the millions  who have been affected or have had someone affected by the company. Others are saying that the actions of the shooter illuminate the American public’s disdain for the modern healthcare system based around insurance and employment. “Class consciousness” and “Revolution” were commonly used words and hashtags on many platforms implying that there may be a counter cultural movement of middle and lower class Americans against wealthy ones. 

The shooter is suspected to be 26 year old Luigi Mangione, who was spotted in a McDonalds in Pennsylvania. The authorities reported finding him with fake identification, a black pistol, and a silencer. It is believed that both the gun and silencer were fabricated by a 3D printer.  While many believe that Mangione’s story might be over, the words he was suspected to have written may possibly live on in the conscious minds of many Americans, conservative and liberal, rich and poor. The story is certainly still gaining momentum as articles and debates have become commonplace on the online sphere regarding the topic. Will corporations continue to operate the same way, even with potential threat of civilian resistance, or will they change their current tactic, as Mangione describes it, to “Deny, defend, depose”?