A high-profile violent crime typically generates a buzz on social media with tips and theories from amateur internet sleuths looking for the suspected perpetrator.
But after UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot to death in New York City this week without a prime suspect being identified, the thriving world of true crime experienced a rare occurrence: online silence from high-profile detectives.
“I haven’t seen a single video that says, ‘We have to find him,’ and that’s unique,” said Michael McWhorter, better known as TizzyEnt, on TikTok, where he creates true crime and viral news content posts 6.7 million followers. “And in other situations with obvious violence, I would definitely see that.”
A masked gunman who is still on the run fatally shot the 50-year-old manager outside a busy New York City hotel on Wednesday, police said. Shell casings found at the scene were marked “Deny,” “Defend” and “Drop,” according to a senior New York law enforcement official briefed on the investigation.
Thompson’s targeted killing sparked praise online from people angry about the state of the U.S. health care system. Tens of thousands of people expressed support for or sympathized with the killing on social media. Some even seemed to celebrate it.
“The flood of social media posts praising and glorifying the assassination of UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson is deeply troubling,” Alex Goldenberg, senior adviser at the Network Contagion Research Institute at Rutgers University, previously told NBC News . (Thompson was CEO of UnitedHealthcare, not UnitedHealth Group, its parent company.)
In a statement, Thompson’s family said he was “an incredibly loving father” to two sons and will be “missed greatly.”
“We are devastated to learn of the senseless murder of our beloved Brian,” the statement said. “Brian was an incredibly loving, generous and talented man who truly lived life to the fullest and touched so many lives.”
Nevertheless, some of the best-known Internet detectives have suspended the investigation.
“We’re pretty apathetic about it,” Savannah Sparks, who has 1.3 million followers on her TikTok account — where she tracks down and reveals the identities of people who commit racist or seemingly criminal acts in viral videos — said of their help in identifying shooter. She added that her community doesn’t do detective work but has “concepts of thoughts and prayers.” It is, you know, a claim that was rejected after my prayers,” referring to routine and frivolous condolences.
Although Sparks, 34, has been tasked by law enforcement in the past with training officers on how to find suspects online, she said she had no interest in helping police this time, according to emails obtained by NBC News .
Sparks, who also works as a health care lactation consultant and has a doctorate in pharmacy, didn’t mince her words when asked if her community was working to find the suspect in the Thompson murder.
“Absolutely the devil,” she said.
Another popular TikTok detective, thatdaneshguy, who has 2 million followers on the platform, made a video critical of the healthcare industry and said he would not try to identify the killer. “I don’t have to encourage violence. I don’t have to tolerate violence under any circumstances. But I don’t have to help either,” he said.
