If a drug dealer who had 2 kids sold fentanyl laced drugs that killed several people just to make some money got murdered in the streets nobody would say "oh but he has 2 kids".

They might say the drug dealer was doing something illegal. How this CEO was running things should be illegal. Countless (innocent) people died so he could get more money.

Oh also he was doing illegal things including insider trading and drinking and driving so there's that.

I feel bad for the family. Losing a loved one sucks. I don't know anything else about him, his family, or their life outside of this story to build an opinion on their suffering, but I'm sure it is immeasurable and only made worse by the media circus that has developed.

But one thing I do know is that this same terrible thing happens to so many families across the world every day. And the impacts can be harder than just dealing with the loss - what if the person murdered was the earner for the family? Or supported their disabled partner or child? What if a couple wasn't married/legally bound, so the partner can't get any of the deceased's benefits? Imagine having to try to figure out childcare if you were a stay at home parent and had to go back to work. Imagine having to go back to work period after suffering a loss like that?

This is where my lack of sympathy for the current situation manifests - because Mr. Thompson's family is ridiculously rich from his time as CEO of UHC, they will not have to worry about these scenarios. Money can't buy happiness, but it can buy safety and security and eliminate worry. They will be able to fully mourn their husband and father, knowing that their millions and millions of dollars are sitting there earning more money without them having to lift a finger. Their future is secure.

To become that rich you either profited off the efforts of others, or profited from the suffering of others. Or both.

I personally find it absurd that a murder involving a few people makes the world talk about these health problems much more effectively than street demonstrations of thousands of protesters. The real fact is that the protesters are us, here on the net, now much more impactful online than one on the street, and I don't know if this is worrying or not but this is the reality (at least in many contexts).

But this guy… How many lives did he decide to end so he can get a little bigger of a paycheck?

Another factor here is that not in a million years would Brian Thinpson face any measure of official justice for this. The government has completely given up on the idea that this sort of harm should be stopped, or its perpetrators held accountable.