“Wanted” posters bearing the names and photos of murdered UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and other high-profile heath insurance executives began popping up around Manhattan sometime this week.
Videos shared on social media showed “wanted” signs plastered on scaffolding and green boxes featuring a big red X over Thompson’s face appeared on the corner of Canal Street and Centre Street in Lower Manhattan.
Other posters donned the faces of Optum CEO Heather Cianfrocco and UnitedHealth CEO Andrew Witty were seen on green scaffolding on Wall Street, according to video.
The posters warn that “HEALTH CARE CEOS SHOULD NOT FEEL SAFE” and include “DENY… DEFEND… DEPOSE” — the three words found on the bullets allegedly shot by Luigi Mangione, who is accused of gunning down Thompson outside a Midtown hotel last week.
The “hit lists” are considered a fear-mongering social media stunt to incite hysteria, sources told The Post, adding that there’s no actual person with a hit list.
Remains of the posters on Canal Street were torn down by noon Wednesday.
Mangione’s manifesto, recovered when he was arrested in Pennsylvania Monday, revealed that he targeted the CEO over his disillusionment with US healthcare and health insurance companies.
Social media reactions to the brazen assassination have been shockingly sympathetic — leading law enforcement to fear that extremists may consider Mangione a “martyr’’ and pick up his cause, sources told The Post.
Authorities believe corporate executives nationwide may face an “elevated threat” as a result, the sources said.
Mangione’s supporters have already raised tens of thousands of dollars toward his defense funds in the shocking Manhattan slaying that left a father of two dead.
The murder has also spawned a stream of merchandise sympathetic towards the 26-year-old being sold by online retailers, forcing Amazon to pull them from its website.
Gifts like T-shirts, sweatshirts and other goods with “Deny Defend Depose” have been popping up on websites like Amazon, TikTok and Ebay. Other Mangione-themed items with “Free Luigi” written on them have been put up for sale for the killer’s admirers.
