AIBU to say I'm surprised a healthcare CEO hasn't been assassinated sooner?

[Chowtime]

Obviously what's happened in America with regard to Brian Thompson is awful but surely it was only a matter of time before someone revolted against their billionaire dollar profits and lack of payouts for individuals who've paid in for years.

That's exactly it. I have little doubt that if found he lost a loved one or was diagnosed himself and they refused coverage.

My son mentioned this case to me and said the response online is such that he wonders would they find a jury.

So many posting "god speed" etc., to him and generally wishing him well.

Left a back pack with Monopoly money ? This case gets more and more bizarre

It's almost like trolling! So odd.

I wonder if he had planned to scatter the Monopoly money over the body of the CEO as a kind of gesture but either forgot about it in the heat of the moment or decided it was more important to get away from the scene?

My take on that is that he's making the shooting as memorable as possible.

He knows that the chances are he'd get caught (CCTV or whatever, or just overpowered by a good Samaritan at the scene). But will try (and as we know, succeed) to go on the run for a period. But he wants the murder hit the headlines and stay in the headlines, so there were more headline-worthy angles than the identity of the victim and which come out over time such as the bullet markings, the monopoly money etc - all stirring the pot of notoriety.

As he expects to be caught, he doesn't care if he's caught on CCTV (he has a few hours start on the team that's poring over it, who will have no idea where he's going or by what means) nor is he bothered by DNA as he expects they will identify him.

So the remaining question to me are: how long will he manage to stay on the run? Will locals, wherever he is, assist him? (ie will he get a following?). And, possibly at the crux of it - at trial, what will he say?

The trial is going to get a lot more coverage because of the headline grabbing aspects of the crime. If he is sending a message, it's going to be amplified because of that.

Even if it proves there is a completely unrelated motive, will it embolden others to take a vigilante path?

I'm concerned that they will just shoot him dead rather than risk a humiliating trial where his motives will lead to huge public support for him. Imagine him on the stand and his testimony being reported night after night, describing the horrors of the health insurance industry. So many people support him it's quite incredible.

I agree with you OP, mainly because of the gun culture in the US.

I agree the authorities are in a very tricky position here, how can they stop him acting as a nucleation point around which others will gather?

Ditto India

I have a feeling you're right on this one. "The suspect refused to raise his hands in the air once cornered, therefore armed officers had no option.. could still have been armed... danger to the public blah blah"

Is he dead then?

Presumably the FBI spring for 50k rewards within a day for every killing that doesn't have an immediate arrest?

I don't think people from other countries understand that that there are very few people thinking that this guy was wrong

Well, I'm an American and I don't condone stalking and premeditated murder. And I wouldn't mistake the lack of sympathy for the victim as an endorsement of assassination.

It's great that this murder has brought United Healthcare's shitty and unethical business practices into the national conversation. I hope something useful comes of that. But this isn't some 'crime passionnel' or a cheesy Jason Stratham movie.

The ironic thing is that the idiot shooter removed his mask to flirt with a desk clerk. In time-honored fashion a man causes his own downfall by thinking with his penis.

The ironic thing is that the idiot shooter removed his mask to flirt with a desk clerk. In time-honored fashion a man causes his own downfall by thinking with his penis.

I found it really weird how that smiley guy had a different jacket and backpack from the shooter

My sympathies with US citizens unhappy with their health care system.

I have to smile at unsubtle US paid propaganda I see about the NHS (death panels for end of life pathways ) when there was scope for corporatised, investible US healthcare to profitably take over NHS provision.

Oddly, no conservative MP or canvasser who came to my door and suggest the NHS would be better run by US corporations (my previous MP was a 'believer' and coincidentally received funding from US healthcare firms) were able to explain why the US system is structured like it is.

People keep saying hostel guy has a different coat and backpack but to me they look the same…..it’s just a different camera with a washed out colour on one of them. You can just make out the pockets on the jacket and there is the same little silver label/white bit on one of the pockets.

I don't think this is just a washed-out pic, the backpack strap looks an entirely different colour.

Politically, a trial for this man will be a disaster. It will be a real rallying moment for general anger and dissatisfaction with the system. The health insurance companies won’t want it and the Trump government won’t want it either as they don’t have any plans to change things.

What’s the betting this man is either never found or found dead?

@Lowcarbonated carbonated · Today 10:29
You take away people health and lives, they have nothing to live for

My health insurance company suddenly stopped my health insurance meaning that my ongoing treatment was abruptly stopped.

Without treatment I can't stay in this country and would have to return to the UK meaning I would have to leave my two children here and go back to the UK with no funds (they also started to reclaim the costs of my treatment, which are considerable).

I had a severe and completely unnecessary breakdown which is going to take a long long time to overcome and ended up hospitalized, once the health insurance company was legally ruled to have to cover me again.

I had the resource of the law to fall back on. Even so I had, at the point where I was going to lose house, all my money and my children, nothing to lose.

All I can say is that the rule of law matters, but the law is there to govern society and make sure that people's needs aren't entirely ignored. Failing that, then can anyone give me a good reason why someone should not be violent towards an individual who has proven themselves willing to let thousands upon thousands die?

More pix on n this article, and a definite change of clothes
news.sky.com/story/brian-thompson-shooting-police-release-new-images-of-suspected-gunman-as-manhunt-continues-13269679

Nope. I lost my stepmother last year on Christmas Eve because she had lung cancer and her healthcare refused further treatment. She was 59 years old with baby grandchildren. My father spiralled into a suicidal state and I couldn’t get him any mental health help. A tear on he’s adamant once Nevada legalises assisted dying he’s going to take his life this way. He requires dialysis 4 days a week. My step mother was his life for 30 years. She was his carer when he got ill. He’s getting evicted because he can’t afford his rent on the benefits he gets as a survivor and being disabled.

The healthcare system in the US is cruel. The welfare for people who need it is equally cruel. I wish I could bring him to the U.K., but he won’t leave the US.

To be brutally honest I believe NHS care in this country is being rationed. It's the elephant in the room.

@Pherian I’m sorry for your loss and your father’s situation, poor man. 💐 Tbh though, I’m not sure that your step mother would definitely have received ongoing treatment in the UK - I know someone with lung cancer who’s just been moved to palliative care as sadly they really can’t do anymore to fight it.

As @justasking111 says, care can be rationed.

The American system does scare me. We live in the US now and I’ve said to my DH and that if our insurance ever denies care, I’m going to let nature take its course rather than accumulate medical debt that our family would have to deal with after I’m gone.

I'm so sorry. Thank goodness you managed to get it reinstated, I hope I've understood that correctly? I completely agree with you, I can find no reason.