By New York Post (U.S.) | Created at 2024-12-11 00:02:56 | Updated at 2024-12-17 16:49:27
6 days ago
Callous tourists have been visiting the Midtown site where UnitedHealthCare CEO Brian Thompson was murdered — with some snapping photos and others shamelessly attempting to justify the cold-blooded slaying.
At least nine people — one from as far as Texas — stopped at the north entrance of the Hilton hotel on Sixth Avenue in the fog and rain on Tuesday, where Thompson, 50, was gunned down from behind in a targeted killing last Wednesday.
The morbid gawkers who flocked to the murder site varied in their motivations — some merely curious and others unabashedly craven in their delight, insisting that the murderer did a “good thing.”
Emily Singleton, 34, and Sam Hyland, 20, revealed they enthusiastically included the location on their itinerary following the tragic event.
“We planned this trip about a month ago and then the assassination of that CEO happened a couple days before we came so it was like we have to visit here,” Emily Singleton, 34, of Florida, told The Post.
“Also, he did a good thing anyway, no matter what people will say. He murdered somebody in good reason,” the tourist heartlessly explained.
When asked why she supports the lawless killing, Singleton said “because of the healthcare system.”
Hyland agreed with his friend’s points and believes that the murder was morally justified.
Some other visitors had less reprehensible reasoning for their photoshoots.
Rodrigo, 59, came to the city from Texas on his way upstate to spend the holidays with friends.
The former New Yorker works in video production and included the murder scene serendipitously to his list of sights to see while walking to Columbus Circle.
“So it’s just like on the way. It’s like might as well stop by, you know. It’s right here. It’s just a crazy thing. I’ve taken pictures of like Christmas trees and new buildings and like ornaments and holiday stuff,” Rodrigo told The Post.
“I have no ill will. It’s one of those things. Remember John Lennon, you know. The Dakota became a big thing,” he elaborated.
When asked what he thinks about the killing which has become a political inflection point, Rodrigo said he is ambivalent, claiming he “despises capitalism” and understands why some people have been avid proponents of the killer.
“I just read an article about how indirectly all of these people who are denied coverage, you know, they’re getting buried and that’s more than one person,” Rodrigo told The Post.
“And, the other side, no one should lose their life because of the job they’re doing. No one should lose their life because, you know, they’re doing what the shareholders went them to do or what they think is right, you know. I’m sure he didn’t see it coming,” Rodrigo said.
The shutterbug said that he would be posting the photos to social media.
Several other people visited the murder site and took photos but declined to talk to The Post.
Luigi Mangione, 26, was arrested Monday in Altoona, Pa., and later charged by Manhattan prosecutors with murder for allegedly killing Thompson.
Mangione was captured while eating at a McDonald’s and was allegedly in possession of a manifesto and a weapon that matched the description of the weapon used in Thompson’s slaying.
The alleged assassin is in the process of being extradited to New York City.
