As they search for the man who assassinated a top health-insurance executive in Midtown Manhattan last week, authorities are contending with an unanticipated challenge: an outpouring of popular sympathy for the killer.
From online forums and social media to the streets of Manhattan, people have been celebrating the suspect as a quasi-folk hero who struck a blow against a detested institutionthe nation's for-profit healthcare system.
In most instances, they were rooting for the killer to evade capture and defending his actionsor remarking on his good looks. But in some cases, expressions of support have crossed over into calls to stymie a police manhunt that, on Sunday, entered its fifth day with the suspect yet to be named.
On the social-media platform X, for example, several people suggested flooding the police with fake tips or dressing like the killer to confuse law enforcement. In New York's Washington Square Park, a group held a look-alike contest on Saturday.
Indeed, many of the online comments in support of the suspect have been tinged with class rage and anti-corporate venom. Among them was a post on the Reddit site "Off My Chest," which has 3.3 million members and bills itself as a supportive community where one can disclose their deepest thoughts.
"Kinda hope they never catch the UnitedHealthCare CEO killer," a poster wrote on Saturday, explaining that the rich "almost never get their due," and adding: "Hell I'll go as far as to say maybe people should go and flood the cops and (now) the FBI's hotlines with fake info, troll pics, the like."
By Sunday evening, the post had garnered more than 2,200 comments, heavily in agreement.
Manhunt for UnitedHealthcare CEO Killer Meets Unexpected Obstacle: Sympathy for the Gunman - WSJ 
