DENVER — Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, is being applauded by many on social media for his alleged actions.
A quick scroll on X, formerly known as Twitter, found users calling Mangione an "American hero" and "successful assassin."
The volume of such posts, along with the high-profile case out of New York, spurred the Colorado Information Analysis Center (CIAC) to issue a situational awareness bulletin with a warning for "possible threats" to individuals in health care.
“We put that together for Colorado law enforcement partners and our hospital partners to make sure that they knew that there's a heightened sensitivity, and kind of a heightened threat environment based on what we're seeing, particularly in social media, you know, concerning threats to health care executives and health care related executives," said Kevin Klein, director of the Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. “We just want people to be aware of the heightened threat environment.”
The bulletin begins by detailing what is known so far about the shooting in New York, specifically referencing ammunition found with the words "delay," "deny," and "depose" written on it.
It continues to list three incidents in Colorado related to health care, where the threats were either isolated or not credible. As of Dec. 9, there have been "no additional threats" against Colorado health care facilities or personnel reported to the CIAC.
Read the full bulletin below:
Klein said CIAC has seen the online threats but has not found any related to Colorado entities.
“We want to make sure that our folks are aware of those threats and on the lookout for them, for anything that can happen in Colorado," said Klein. “We send out bulletins every day, right? So they're routine in that sense. In the sense that we're looking at potential threats to the health care industry or the health care sector, that is not usual.”
The bulletin states that the "social media conversations highlight the current threat landscape that individuals with deeply held personal grievances can and do conduct violence to satiate their grievance(s)." It continues to say that within the "larger threat landscape there has been a threat to the health care field." Such online activity has grown over the last two years, according to CIAC.
The attack in New York highlights the "potential vulnerability of high-profile individuals" working within health care, according to the bulletin.
“There's a heightened awareness and a heightened awareness of the frustrations that people have had, and that's coming out, particularly, in social media," said Klein. “We want to make sure that other people are aware of that, and that our health care facilities are taking appropriate actions to make sure that they're looking at their security, and that our health care executives are doing the same — looking at their personal security and what they may be doing.”
Denver7 spoke with Tony Spurlock, a retired Douglas County sheriff, to learn how he interpreted the bulletin.
“People are frustrated, and when you have something like this occur anywhere in the United States or abroad, sometimes that stirs up individuals who might not generally participate in things. And so it does cause people to stop and think about, you know, the situation of security," Spurlock said. “Just because you're angry at an insurance company or whatever doesn't justify or condone that type of behavior at any level.”
Samual Jay, a professor of communication studies at Metropolitan State University of Denver, said he's disappointed by the messaging he sees on social media but not surprised.
“I can't say that I'm shocked by what we've seen, particularly when we consider a class struggle in the United States and something that has really kind of defined us since day one," said Jay. "That frustration is a frustration that we might consider a symptom of a lot more or larger problem when it comes to the discrepancies between, I think, the elite and the rest of us.”
The Denver, Aurora and Boulder police departments, as well as the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, all tell Denver7 they have received no threats against health care executives in their areas.
The Aurora Police Department added it has "a great working relationship with the hospitals in our area and [continues] to strengthen those partnerships. We regularly meet with security staff and hospital administrators to ensure the best level of service with our medical partners and their facilities."
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