New Yorkers too busy swooning over CEO Brian Thompson’s killer to search for him

New York City is divided over the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Midtown Manhattan.

While some people are calling the gunman a ‘man of the people,’ others are busy making montages with his masked face under Britney Spears’ chorus ‘Mama I’m in love with a criminal’.

TikTok is engulfed with ‘hot takes’ about what New York Police Department has described as a ‘targeted attack’ as the hunt for the killer continues for a third day.

What has transpired is a general lack of sympathy for the UnitedHealthcare CEO, mostly because of the dreadful state of health insurance companies in the US.

Even though the killer’s motives remain a mystery, people are framing him as a ‘John Wick type,’ referring to the broader symbolism the shooting may carry.

His choice of bullets – inscribed with the words ‘deny’, ‘defend’ and ‘depose’ – resonates with the public frustration towards the perceived injustices in corporate America.

John Smith, son of English writer and political commentator, Harry Leslie Smith, wrote on X: ‘Reward for information leading to arrest and conviction for the murderer of UnitedHealthcare CEO is $10,000.

‘This would buy the informant a one day hospital stay for a serious health crisis in an American hospital.’

Editor Joanna Schroeder responded: ‘The reward is less than one-third of what it cost to give birth to my middle child.’

TikToker Jordan Dwayne also released a video about the incident, saying that New Yorkers would not give the suspect away.

‘This was personal. New York City is offering $10,000 for any information on this guy,’ she said.

‘Do you think New Yorkers are going to give up John Wick for $10,000? If anybody saw that guy, no they didn’t.’

Reactions to the cold-blooded shooting also took an unexpected turn after NYPD released footage of the masked man, and later a surveillance image of a man police are seeking.

A user on X wrote in a post Thursday morning: ‘Oh no lol this app is about to fall apart.’

They had shared a picture of a suspect, showed him in a hoodie and jacket, flashing a smile at a hostel on the Upper West Side where he had stayed.

Scotsman Douglas Rooney also tweeted: ‘Can you imagine being the NYPD going door to door saying ”we are searching for a suspect: he looks like every hot white guy you have ever met”.’

Some users took the swooning further, compared him to Oscar-nominated actors Timothée Chalamet and Jake Gyllenhaal.

This is not the first time the public has overlooked someone’s brutal crimes because of their physical attractiveness.

The American audience similarly romanticised Ted Bundy, one of history’s most notorious serial killers who kidnapped, raped and murdered dozens of young women and girls.

Known for his charm and good looks, he too exploited them to be in favour with the public.

Being intensely sexually attracted to criminals like Bundy is a phenomenon known as hybristophilia.

For now, the manhunt for Thomson’s killer continues, and the NYPD has neither arrested – nor charged anyone in the case.

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