The assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a New York street has sparked a surprising wave of public celebration.
Social media platforms, such as Facebook, were flooded with mocking responses to posts memorialising the 50-year-old executive, including thousands of laugh-reacts.
Is it ever justified to celebrate someone’s death?
On Tuesday morning’s episode of The Briefing, we spoke with US-born activist and public speaker Azure Antoinette to unpack it all.
Antoinette said the reaction to Thompson’s death highlights growing anger towards corporate executives, particularly in the health insurance industry.
“Being an American and living there all my life up until very recently, the healthcare issue, the healthcare crisis in the United States of America, is heartbreaking, awe-striking,” Antoinette said.
Critics argue that leaders like Thompson profit from a system that denies care to those who need it most.
A Columbia University lecturer posted on social media: “Today, we mourn the deaths of 68,000 Americans who needlessly die each year so that insurance company execs like Brian Thompson can become multimillionaires.”
“I believe that the feeling, the vitriol, and the space that American citizens occupy around being dissatisfied, hurt, and disenchanted with access to and agency over healthcare is so much bigger than the man who lost his life.”
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