Why so many people celebrated the death of Brian Thompson
A conversation with a moral psychologist, Kurt Gray (my latest for the Washington Post)
A few hours after a gunman killed Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, the company said on X that its “hearts go out to Brian’s family and all who were close to him.” Within two days, over 71,000 people reacted to the post with laughing emojis. The same attitude spread across social media.
I was shocked by the response. It was the second time in recent memory I’ve witnessed a flood of jubilation in response to an act of extreme violence. In October 2022, an intruder broke into then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s home in California and cracked the skull of Paul Pelosi, her husband, with a hammer. In the aftermath of that attack, Donald Trump Jr. posted on Instagram, “Got my Paul Pelosi Halloween costume ready,” with a photo of tighty-whities and a hammer. Thousands of his supporters went wild.
Even though it is in my area of study, I am still surprised by the extent to which our tribal instincts can rock our moral foundations, as they did in these cases. Many people making light of the killing of Thompson, saying he had it coming because he was the CEO of a big health insurance company, were appalled at those who made light of the Pelosi attack. And many who made fun of the Pelosi attack, or who circulated outlandish conspiracy theories about it, are appalled at the celebration of Thompson’s death. The disconnect is startling.
To unpack these events, I spoke with Kurt Gray, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of North Carolina, who studies morality. Gray’s timely new book, “Outraged: Why We Fight About Morality and Politics and How to Find Common Ground,” comes out on Jan. 14.
In our conversation, Gray explained how our moral minds have evolved to be far simpler than perhaps we like to believe. I do not agree with the people who celebrate the assault or murder of strangers, but after speaking with Gray, I now at least have a better understanding of why so many people have reacted with joy and sarcasm to these events.
I think this overanalyzes the situation. The people who celebrate this act are (from what i have observed, not measured) progressive. In their celebration they often express the oppressor characterization of Thompson. That archtype is imprinted on him and is therefore an acceptable target for "progress by any means necessary". This is a newer form of base racism applied to a social strata instead of genetics. Choose a group, generalize to subhuman state, and your actions are now just.
Another example of this is when people celebrated the massacre of farmer families on Oct 7, many of whom provided social services to Gazans.