Though Luigi Mangione, the suspected killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, probably did not have any other target, the possibility of copycat murders can not be dismissed, CEO of security firm BlackCloak Chris Pierson told Newsweek. Whenever people get angry at a company, they target the CEO, Pierson said adding that the killing of Thompson should be a wake-up call for the companies to ensure physical and digital safety of the top management.
“For the general public, this attack on the UHC CEO may seem like an exotic crime, but in the executive protection industry we are dealing with serious threats on a weekly basis,” said Pierson. “The risks to executives are widespread and accelerating. Over the last four to five years, we’ve seen them increasing at an almost exponential rate.”
50-year-old Brian Thompson was murdered in front of a hotel in New York City in the morning hours with many witnesses on the street. The murder was well planned, organized and won’t be easy to replicate but fears of more shootings are definitely warranted, Pierson said.
Social media glorification too can lead to copycat action
Insurance woes are a common thing and Luigi Mangione was hailed on social media as a hero — not only by some fringe elements but also by some prominent voices including journalist Taylor Lorenz. Brian Stephens, Senior Managing Director of Risk, Intelligence, and Resilience at security consulting firm, Teneo, told Newsweek that he was not surprised by the killing but he was taken aback bu the level of support that the suspected killer got on social media.
Stephens spoke to how he was “a little surprised and taken aback at the volume and level of support that was publicly stated for the attacker,” online, and that he can see how people’s “empathy to his point of view and to some of the frustrations with, in this case, the healthcare industry,” may lead to further acts of violence.
