America’s top internet sleuths have refused to help law enforcement officials track down the assassin of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
The 50-year-old father-of-two was gunned down earlier this week, with the footage of his assassination circulating on social media amidst an ongoing manhunt for his killer.
Typically this type of high-profile violent crime sets platforms including TikTok and X alight with buzz, with amateur internet sleuths hunting to root out the perpetrator.
But many armchair detectives have decided to keep schtum, even as eerie details filtered out earlier this week including a hidden message being left on shell casings at the scene.
One of those who opted to stand aside is Savannah Sparks, who has 1.3 million followers on TikTok.
Sparks tracks down the identities of racists who are caught in viral videos, and according to NBC has been tapped by law enforcement to help train officers on finding suspects online.
When asked by the outlet if she was working to find the suspect in Thompson’s murder, she said: ‘Absolutely the f*** not.’
Fellow TikTok sleuth, thatdaneshguy, who boasts 2 million followers on his platform posted a video of him being critical of the health care industry.
The 50-year-old father-of-two was gunned down earlier this week, with the footage of his assassination circulating on social media amidst an ongoing manhunt for his killer
Despite the lack of online sleuthing, the New York Police Department released images of the suspect in the case – one of which shows him smiling
One of those who opted to stand aside is Savannah Sparks, seen here, who has 1.3 million followers on TikTok
In it, he said: ‘I don’t have to encourage violence. I don’t have to condone violence by any means. But I also don’t have to help.’
Michael McWhorter, better known as TizzyEnt on TikTok, said in a video: ‘I have yet to see a single video that’s pounding the drum of ‘we have to find him,’ and that is unique.’
He told his 6.7 million followers: ‘I don’t think it’s that difficult to figure out why. There isn’t a single person in this country who hasn’t themselves or had someone very near and dear to them suffer from the abysmal thing that is privatized healthcare.
‘People everyday are denied for the most ridiculous reasons sometimes even though they should be given care.
‘Just deny to deny them then hope that they will die before they can actually get the services that they have paid for.’
The assassination of Thompson has sparked online praise from those angry over the state of health care in the US, some have even made fan art of his killer.
Alex Goldenberg, an adviser at The Network Contagion Research Institute at Rutgers University told NBC: ‘The surge of social media posts praising and glorifying the killing of Brian Thompson is deeply concerning.’
This overall disdain has been highlighted in a new Gallup poll released on Friday that found that Americans believe health care quality is at a 24-year-old low.
Michael McWhorter, better known as TizzyEnt on TikTok, said in a video that it wasn’t difficult to understand why people didn’t want to help find the killer
Fellow TikTok sleuth, thatdaneshguy, seen here, who boasts 2 million followers on his platform posted a video of him being critical of the health care industry
Sukrit Venkatagiri, an assistant professor of computer science at Swarthmore College, told NBC: ‘They don’t really empathize with who the victim is in this scenario.
‘People are less motivated, from an altruistic perspective, to help this victim in this specific case.’
Insurance companies have also started removing images of their leadership teams from their websites following the killing.
Thompson’s company UnitedHealthcare removed his image and other execs from their site on Wednesday, with CVS Health following suit on Thursday.
Despite the lack of online sleuthing, the New York Police Department released images of the suspect in the case – one of which shows him smiling.
Officers believe they are closing the net on Thompson’s killer as the manhunt for him continued on Friday.
Investigators managed to find what they believe to be his backpack inside Central Park on Friday which they are having tested at a lab.
Officers believe they are closing the net on Thompson’s killer as the manhunt for him continued on Friday. A cop is seen here inside Central Park on Friday evening
CNN reported that the bag, seen here, was found by cops on their second sweep of the park and was placed between boulders just south of the park’s carousel
Officers were seen scouring the park near 64th street and Central Park West for evidence relating to the shooter, after he was seen fleeing into the park on a electric bike.
CNN reported that the bag was found by cops on their second sweep of the park, and was placed between boulders just south of the park’s carousel.
The NYPD have also given a clearer idea of the killer’s movements after he murdered Thompson.
They say he entered the park after the shooting at 6:48am and then was spotted exiting on 77th Street in the Upper West Side of Manhattan oat 6:56am.
Surveillance footage captured him near 86th Street and Columbus Avenue two minutes after he left the park, while still on his bike.
At 7:04 am he then go into a taxi cab at 86th Street and Amsterdam Avenue and headed north.
By 7:30 am he had made it to the Port Authority bus terminal in the north of the city where they say he boarded a bus and left the city.
On Friday evening new footage emerged in the minutes after the fatal shooting of the suspect flying up 6th avenue on his electric bike.
The footage, obtained by NewsNation, showed a new angle of his escape path and showed him darting across the street and into the early morning darkness of Central Park.
The NYPD have also given a clearer idea of the killer’s movements after he murdered Thompson
On Thursday officials said the individual had arrived into the city in late November on a bus from Atlanta, Georgia, and had been staying inside a hostel on the Upper West Side.
It was inside the hostel that a flirty exchange with a hostel worker gave police officers their first glimpse at the killer, when he was asked to lower his mask.
Prior to the killing he was caught on surveillance cameras inside a Starbucks near the Hilton Hotel where he shoot Thompson.
He is said to have bough two nutrition bars inside the chain alongside a bottle of water that was found at the scene.
The image of the backpack that was found shows what appears to be one of the bars in the side pocket.
The Chief of Detectives with the NYPD Joseph Kenny has said that they believe the assassin is either a disgruntled ex-employee or an angry client.
On Friday night the FBI announced they had also joined in the investigation for the killer, offering a $50,000 for any information that leads to a conviction.
The footage, obtained by NewsNation, showed a new angle of his escape path and showed him darting across the street and into the early morning darkness of Central Park
Prior to the killing he was caught on surveillance cameras inside a Starbucks near the Hilton Hotel where he shoot Thompson, seen here
Thompson had been slated to speak at an investor meeting at the hotel on Wednesday morning, in which he would announce United Healthcare’s hugely profitable 2025 financial outlook – including expected revenues of more than $450 billion.
His schedule was widely known, and witnesses have said the suspected gunman even knew which door Thompson was going to emerge from before opening fire.
United is the biggest health insurer by market share in America. They have been the subject of protests by activists for allegedly systematically denying care for patients.
One such protest earlier this year led to the arrests of 11 people outside the United Healthcare headquarters in Minnetonka, Minnesota.
The company made headlines in February after it was subjected to a cyber-attack which cost $872 million.
Thompson’s wife, Paulette ‘Pauley’ Thompson, 51, has said her husband had been receiving ‘some threats’ before his trip to New York.
Thompson was also being investigated by the Department of Justice for antitrust violations and accused of insider trading.
The department launched a probe into whether the private company was unfairly restricting competitors and running a monopoly.
