UnitedHealthcare CEO Shooting Sparks Conversation
The shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson sparked online discussion, including rare points of agreement across the political divide
TLDR
UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was fatally shot outside a Manhattan hotel in Dec. 2024. The shooting was a targeted attack that sparked discussion on many social media platforms.
To assess the online response to the shooting, Open Measures researchers focused on increased activity on Bluesky, 4chan, and Rumble.
After the shooting, mentions of “late-stage capitalism” more than doubled on Bluesky. On BlueSky, 4chan, and Rumble, the term “revolution” saw an increase immediately after the shooting. There was also a rise in the terms “deny,” “delay,” and “depose” across platforms.
Bluesky saw a unique increase in the terms “martyr” and “late-stage capitalism.”
Background
On Dec. 4, 2024, a gunman shot and killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Manhattan. The suspected killer, Luigi Mangione, was arrested in Pennsylvania on Dec. 9, 2024, after leaving New York City.
Immediately after the shooting, local and federal law enforcement agencies opened an investigation as social media users began to fill the internet with theories and colorful discussion. We examined these sentiments, with a particular focus on BlueSky, 4chan, and Rumble.
Sentiments in Online Discussion
Launched in Feb. 2023 with backing from Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, Bluesky is an open architecture social media platform that aims to give users more control over their data and content moderation through the AT Protocol. 4chan, founded in 2003, is an anonymous online imageboard known for its unmoderated content. Rumble is an online video platform founded in 2013. It has gained popularity as an alternative to mainstream platforms by emphasizing “free speech” and content neutrality.
Common sentiments in conversations on these platforms were a distaste for the healthcare industry at large and at least some empathy toward the shooter (with similarities among opinions that were otherwise across partisan lines).
The suspected killer appears to have acted as a “lone wolf,” which experts say are rare to inspire copycat incidents.1 Some researchers argue this moment should be a turning point for American executives, pointing toward the social responsibility certain other corporations have shown by caring more deeply for their communities, thereby improving their public reputations.2
To examine the nuances of these opinions, researchers at Open Measures looked at discussion of the shooting on Bluesky, 4chan, and Rumble.
Analysis
Similar Sentiments Across Platforms
According to a poll from NORC at the University of Chicago, the vast majority of respondents (~80%) agree that the shooter is to blame for the killing and that murder is unacceptable. However, nearly 70% of respondents also laid blame at the feet of healthcare and insurance companies for denying claims and seeking excess profits.3
These were common sentiments, reflected in the activity on Bluesky, 4chan, and Rumble following the Dec. 4, 2024 shooting. Posts and comments mentioning the term “revolution” immediately increased on Bluesky, 4chan, and Rumble. Across platforms, the term “revolution” referenced a populist uprising against common enemies in the US, including perceived “elites,” the ultra-rich, and the healthcare industry.
Researchers searched Open Measures’ Bluesky, 4chan, and Rumble datasets using the following query:
“revolution”Researchers observed increased mentions of the term above on all three platforms. Each graph below was made using Open Measures' changepoint feature, illustrating when a statistically significant change occurred during data collection.
Mentions of “Revolution”
In the months before the shooting, the term “revolution” appeared steadily (if moderately) on all three platforms. In the days after the shooting, however, all platforms saw mentions of the term significantly increase. Notably, this increase came from all along the political spectrum.
As a cross-platform sample, Open Measures researchers looked closely at posts from the week after shooting (from Dec. 4–11, 2024). Of these, content on 4chan and Rumble likened the shooting to the start of a revolution; posts on Bluesky tended to highlight the inequality between different classes and called for more elites to die publicly.
Researchers at Open Measures also examined posts that provided context for why they were in favor of a revolution against the elites. On Bluesky, the driving sentiment for common people’s anger at elites was that the rich did not “get it.”
On 4chan, the discussion tended to focus on why the UnitedHealthcare shooting represented the beginning of a revolution against perceived elites. On Bluesky, researchers found that the focus was more on an empathetic analysis of the event; on 4chan, it was more of a structural and ideological critique of the current systems.
“Deny, delay, depose”
Next, researchers at Open Measures also looked for mentions of the phrase “deny,” “depose,” and “delay” across platforms, as these were terms carved into the bullets used in the shooting.4 Researchers did so breaking out each term in the phrase using the following query:
“deny” AND “delay” AND “depose”Within the datasets, posts using the terms “deny,” “delay,” and “depose” increased immediately following the shooting. This was true on 4chan, Rumble, and Bluesky, as seen below.
Similar to the “revolution” results, these terms often referenced ultra-powerful elites. However, these words are also a specific and explicit reference to the healthcare industry (which has used them internally in the past), which was of particular interest to researchers.5
Ultimately, the terms “deny,” “delay,” and “depose” were found to have increased across all three platforms alongside comments about the healthcare industry.
Key Language Differences Across Platforms
“martyr”
Bluesky saw unique increases in certain language following the shooting, including the term “martyr.” By definition, a martyr is someone who sacrifices something of great value, especially life itself, for the sake of principle and their beliefs.6
Our findings indicated that Mangioni was widely considered a “martyr” by many users on Bluesky, which we analyzed by using the following query:
“martyr”
“late stage capitalism”
Researchers then looked for mentions of the term “late-stage capitalism” or “late stage capitalism.” This term is used to describe the perceived characteristics, consequences, or absurdities of capitalism. Often, it is critical of inequality, overconsumption and prioritizing profit above all else.
To analyze this term, researchers used the following query (using two versions of the term, to account for different stylings):
“late-stage capitalism” OR “late stage capitalism”
Across all three platforms, the term only saw a significant increase on Bluesky. As seen below, these terms had an increase that coincided with Black Friday shopping after Thanksgiving. Activity then plummeted up until the shooting, and increased immediately after.
Notably, the terms “martyr” and “late-stage capitalism” or “late stage capitalism” only spiked on Bluesky; these terms did not have increases among Rumble or 4chan posts.
Conclusion
Posts on Bluesky, 4chan, and Rumble showed a similar pattern following the Dec. 4 shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Immediately after the event, posts often used the term “revolution.” On Bluesky and Rumble, users posted “deny,” “delay,” and “depose” more often as well.
While public sentiment was relatively similar across platforms, there were some terminology differences. Specifically, Bluesky saw a unique increase in the terms “martyr” and “late-stage capitalism.” Minor differences aside, the shared sentiment about the shooting across what are typically partisan divides seems worthy of further reflection.
We hope that continued social media research on this topic among others can result in a deeper understanding of user-generated content, and the motivation for content, to keep communities safe.
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Pereira, I., Kim, J., & Saliba, E. (2024, Dec. 23). UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting prompts questions about how to prevent copycats. ABC News. Here.
Gulati, R., & Beard, A. (2024, Dec. 13). The UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting should be a turning point for corporate America. Harvard Business Review. Here.
Rubin, A. (2024, Dec. 27). Americans think insurance industry to blame for UnitedHealthcare CEO killing. Axios. Here.
Murphy, T. (2024, Dec. 6). Words on ammo in CEO shooting echo common phrase on insurer tactics: Delay, deny, defend. AP News. Here.
Bohannon, M. (2024, Dec. 6). “deny,” ’defend, “depose”: What to know about words reportedly on shell casings tied to UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting. Forbes. Here.
Oxford Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Dictionary.