December 4th, Brian Thompson, CEO of United Healthcare was shot dead in Manhattan with bullets writing “deny”, “defend”, and “depose” on them. The words refer to companies denying claims, defend them being denied, and delaying the process of paying for healthcare. If you didn’t think that was crazy enough, the shooter also left a bag filled with Monopoly money in Central Park for the police to find. You gotta admit, that’s some poetic justice.
Overall, the people are united in their feelings towards the whole situation. News flash, it’s not a negative reaction. “Oh but he had a family!”, hmmm, so did the thousands that died under United Healthcare Insurance. People are profiting off of your pain. People like CEOs of insurance companies. Now, I’m not saying he “deserved to die” or something, but there’s a reason why the publics reaction is the way it is. Maybe, if you’re having doubts, after reading this article you can see how this death connects to so many different problems and why the shooter is praised & loved.
Jordan Neely
On December 9th, a person of interest was taken in for the murder of a CEO. Only a few days after the incident occurred. On the same day (December 9th), Daniel Penny, the man who murdered a street performer, Jordan Neely, was allowed to walk free. Jordan Neely was choked to death in an F train by Daniel Penny in May of last year. Jordan Neely was black, and as you can probably assume by the fact that his murderer was allowed to walk free, Daniel Penny was white. Why am I mentioning this? The amount of news coverage on Brian Thompson was more than United Healthcare would ever give, as people have been saying on the internet. A person of interest has more attention than any other news at the moment. Meanwhile, a murderer, caught on camera, is walking free. Why? Because Daniel Penny killed someone who wasn’t a part of the 1%. As Jordan Neely’s father said on December 9th, “The system is rigged”.
The Shooter
Luigi Mangione was taken in on December the 9th as a suspect. According the police, so take it with a grain of salt, Mangione was sitting in a McDonalds in Altoona, Pennsylvania. He was apparently recognized by a McDonalds customer who then reported it to a McDonalds employee who called the police. The police found him with multiple fake ids, a passport, and a 3D printed gun according to a CBS article. He was also found with a 3 page, hand written manifesto writing “To the Feds, I’ll keep this short, because I do respect what you do for our country. To save you a lengthy investigation, I state plainly that I wasn’t working with anyone,” and “I do apologize for any strife or traumas but it had to be done. Frankly, these parasites simply had it coming” according to AP News. We still don’t know much about his involvement in the case, so I guess there nothing else to say except to remember that everyone is innocent until they are proven guilty.
The Peoples Reaction
The internet and the public overall have had little to no sympathy for the recently deceased CEO. In fact, the people have fallen in love with Luigi Mangione for both his actions and his looks. Many online have pointed out the fact that the country has never been as united as they have been on the case of Brain Thompsons assassination. There is a pretty simple reason for this: EVERYONE hates insurance companies because insurance affects EVERYBODY. Even someone like Luigi Mangione who comes from a VERY wealthy family was affected enough to kill Thompson, if he is the shooter. I gotta say though, he is an exception. Overall, it is the working class that has united in their feelings over this matter. This is what I mean by “everyone” by the way, the working class.
ACAB
When you look at our country and still wonder why people say “defund the police”, that means either you’re not looking or you are just a terrible human being. When HEALTHCARE is inaccessible to people, HOUSING is inaccessible, FOOD, BASIC SUPPLIES, etc are inaccessible but the police department can get funding to further militarize, the police should be defunded. I’m sure Ive mentioned this in an older article of mine, but the idea of “defunding the police” is a hyperbole. An exaggeration if you will. This is because, well, it will never happen. The point of saying “defund the police” is to draw attention to the fact that systems that actually benefit the public are severely underfunded while the police continues to grow and become more of a threat to the working class.
I am bringing this up so that maybe, if you haven’t agreed with everything I’ve said yet, you can see the bigger picture: class war. Jordan Neely’s murderer is free because Jordan Neely was black and poor. A person of interest in Brian Thompsons murder however is having his entire life story being spread around the media and brought into court immediately because Brian Thompson was a white rich guy. You can say it’s just one example, but it really isn’t. Our justice system has shown EXACTLY whose lives they think are worthy to be brought to justice and whose aren’t. Our police system has shown EXACTLY who are the “criminals” and “terrorists” by arresting and assaulting fellow protesters for no reason. Our police system has shown us that black lives don’t matter to them. Our country’s leaders have shown us that the working class don’t matter to them because at the end of the day, thousands still die at the hands of insurance companies, and many will still die at the hands of our corrupt legal and police systems.
Conclusion
To finish off this article, let it be said, the system cannot be beat, only broken and destroyed. To get peace means to get justice and that doesn’t always mean it will be done peacefully. Violence is always condemned when it is done in resistance. Violence by the rich and powerful often go ignored or justified. Say it sounds over dramatic, but when you really think about it, its true.