Opinion: Violence in New York and Our Polarized Society
This week saw two news items concerning two New York deaths. The throughline here is that the extremely polarized American society that we live in today has led to both sides of the political spectrum justifying acts of violence and scapegoating individual actors as part of their larger commentary on society.
Focusing on the shooting of UnitedHealthCare CEO Brian Thompson, many have reacted with celebrations of his death and an overall lack of sympathy for the victim and his family. Many reactions are influenced by a contempt for the healthcare industry, which has been denounced as corrupt and morally bankrupt. Across multiple social media platforms, many have justified his death, going so far as to state that he deserved to die as a result of his position in UnitedHealthCare. People have gone as far as leaving one star reviews at the McDonalds where he was found, calling the workers “snitches.” The person of interest, Luigi Mangione, was reported as suffering from back pain and received back surgery earlier this year. Many have speculated his motivations may be related to his gripes with his condition and the healthcare system’s handling of his treatment, as the bullets left at the scene of the crime displayed the world's “deny” “defend” and “depose,” which may be interpreted as criticism of the industry, referencing a 2010 book titled “Delay Deny Defend,” which describes insurer’s strategies to avoid payments.
In my opinion, it is morally wrong for a person to make a determination that another deserves to die. There are hundreds of healthcare CEOs and others who have committed the worst offenses, but the solution is not to kill all of them. Mr. Thompson is a scapegoat for all of America to address their issues with the healthcare system too, especially as he was relatively unknown until his death.
Concerning another New York death, marine veteran Daniel Penny was acquitted of the death of Jordan Neely. The jury reached a unanimous verdict to determine that Mr. Penny was not guilty of criminally negligent homicide. The death of Mr. Neely has led to more polarized reactions more split among political lines: Democrat Sen. James Sanders Jr. stated the decision was a “tragic conclusion to an already heartbreaking series of events,” while Vice President-elect JD Vance stated, “It was a scandal Penny was ever prosecuted in the first place.” Similar to Mr. Thompson, Mr. Neely is seen as a scapegoat for New Yorkers’ concerns. Many are disturbed by the increasing lawlessness of the New York City streets and the preserved invasion of New York by “others,” displaying a glaring “us vs them” mentality. This is evidenced by the Republican shift in the recent elections and New Yorkers’s support for Trump’s deportation plans. As with Mr. Thompson, many are vilifying the victims of horrific acts of violence. No one deserves to die and this rise in the dehumanization of violence is truly shocking. The rhetoric used around death is part of a trend of resorting to extreme means to address political issues, such as exemplified by some wishing that “the shooter had not missed” in the case of Trump’s two assassination attempts.
