On Tuesday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) condemned the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson while also stating that the killing and “visceral” response should serve as a warning about an industry that is failing Americans.
Warren told The Huffington Post on Tuesday that the strong reactions of people across the country who feel cheated, ripped off, and threatened by the bad behavior of their insurance companies should serve as a warning to everyone in the health care system.
Warren was talking about the people who have come together to support Luigi Mangione, 26, as the person suspected of killing Thompson.
She warned that people can only be “pushed so far” and said that violence is “never the answer.”
“Damage is never the answer, but people can only take it so far,” she said. “This is a warning that if you push people too far, they will lose faith in their government and the people who provide health care to make changes. They will then start to do things on their own, which will be dangerous for everyone in the end.”
The words “deny,” “defend,” and “depose” were written on shell casings found at the scene of the Thompson murder. This made a lot of people think the killing was meant to make a point about the health insurance industry. Mangione, who was charged with murder, had reportedly had problems after surgery on his back.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) also talked to Huffington Post. He called the murder of Thompson “unacceptable” and said that people’s anger at health insurance companies is a sign of a much bigger problem.
“I think the huge amount of anger directed at the health care industry shows that millions of people know that health care is a human right and that insurance companies can not turn down people who need it while making billions of dollars,” he said.
