The reaction to Brian Thompson’s shooting took security experts by surprise, as people online were quick to joke about, and even praise, his alleged killer.
The shooting of Brian Thompson sparked two very separate reactions around his killer: a manhunt and admiration from certain parts of the internet, with the latter creating concern among security experts that this killing might inspire copy-cat events.
When a person is gunned down in broad daylight people do not usually have praise ready for the gunman, but the killing of the CEO of a health insurance company elicited less sympathy and more memes from certain members of the general public, including at least 90,000 people reacting to a tribute post to Thompson on Facebook with ‘laughing’ emojis.
This reaction led security professionals to tell Newsweek that the current environment is dangerous for CEOs and C-suite members.
Now that Thompson’s alleged killer, Luigi Mangione, is in custody, the jokes and the praise have not stopped, with people online making up fake alibis for him, saying the police should « free him », and even review-bombing the McDonald’s where he was apprehended by police as a show of support.
One Tiktok which currently has over 7 million views states that the only « safe » CEOs right now are the heads of Costco and Arizona Iced Tea. Both of these CEOs are known for refusing to raise the price of their mainstay items.
Chris Pierson, CEO of the security firm BlackCloak, told Newsweek: « Given the vitriol and extreme negativity expressed on social media and other forums, executive protection teams are bracing for the worst. »
He said: « We are definitely concerned about the potential for copy-cat murders, as well as other acts of violence and intimidation that could be inspired by this CEO shooting.
