Misinformation About United Healthcare CEO’s Slaying Clouds Facts Online
Police place bullet casing markers outside of a Hilton Hotel in Midtown Manhattan where United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson was fatally shot on December 04, 2024 in New York City. Photo by Spencer Platt / Getty Images
Forbes
Within hours of the deadly shooting of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York this week, the surveillance video that captured the brazen crime spread across social media. On X, Reddit and Facebook, the short video was likely analyzed as closely as the footage of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy over 61 years ago.
And like that infamous shooting, the one in Midtown Manhattan has led to viral conspiracy theories.
Online sleuths offered their unsolicited opinions, which often ran counter what investigating authorities have said. Some online commenters suggested the killing was carried out by a professional hit man, who not only used a suppressor but likely subsonic ammunition, which necessitated the need to manually operate the handgun's slide.
Some even identified the firearm as a Welrod, a British bolt-action, magazine-fed, suppressed pistol devised during the Second World War, while others said it was likely a B&T VP9. Neither is likely the case.
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