A University of Pennsylvania professor has made some of his social media accounts private after a video of him celebrating the death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson as an alumnus of the Ivy League school went viral. It looks like he deleted his TikTok account.
Luigi Mangione, 26, was charged last week with executing a former insurance executive on a New York City sidewalk. He was taken into custody at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on Monday.
He is wanted in New York on charges including second-degree murder, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, and second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument.
Since Thompson's murder last week, the anger people have felt over having their health insurance claims denied has led to posts on social media celebrating and mocking Thompson's killing as justifying it. It's overflowing.
After Mangione was taken into custody as a person of interest on Monday, University of Pennsylvania professor Julia Alexeyeva appeared to share several social media posts pandering to the murder suspect.
In one TikTok, Alexeyeva, who posts under the name “The Soviete,” smiles while playing the song “Can You Hear the People's Song?” From the famous musical “Les Misérables”.
“I've never been more proud to be a professor at the University of Pennsylvania,” the screen read, replacing the “E” in Pennsylvania with the number 3.
Alexeyeva is an assistant professor of English and film and media studies at the university and identifies herself as a “socialist and ardent anti-fascist.” her website.
The post gained traction after it was reposted on X by popular TikTok accounts Libs and UPenn alumnus Eyal Yakoby.
“It's disgusting,” Jacoby replied. “UPenn professor Julia Alekseyeva celebrates UnitedHealthcare CEO's assassination suspect and his killer attended UPenn, wonders why young Americans become radical enough to try to kill someone” There are people, but it's because of extremist professors.”
Ms. Yakoby also shared a purported screenshot of Ms. Alexeyeva's Instagram Story in response to a magazine article purporting to learn about the murder suspect's sexuality, calling Ms. Mangione “the person we all need and… “A worthy icon.”
Mr. Jacoby also claimed that the professor had a history of left-wing activities on campus.
Since her post was shared to X by others, Alexeyeva has made her Instagram account private and appears to have also deleted her TikTok account with the same name, but her X account remains public.
The University of Pennsylvania and Alexeyeva did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Other professors have also faced backlash for their vitriolic views ridiculing Thompson's murder.
“Today we mourn the shooting death of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson….Wait, sorry, but today we mourn the shooting death of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson. “We mourn the loss of the 68,000 Americans who die needlessly every year trying to achieve their goals,” said Anthony Zenkas, senior lecturer in social work at Columbia University's School of Social Work. , posted in X on December 4th.
Zenkus' post has been viewed more than 7 million times and was flooded with comments criticizing him. In response to these comments, the professor clarified that he was not justifying murder.
“Killing people in cold blood in broad daylight is never acceptable,” he wrote in a follow-up post on Dec. 6, adding, “I will deny claims for life-saving treatment so my family can watch over me. “It's best to kill them by delay.” They slowly wither away until they die in severe and excruciating pain. ”
These professors were certainly not the only ones to express these sentiments on social media.
Former Washington Post reporter Taylor Lorenz shared multiple posts that appeared to at least understand the killing, suggesting other health insurance executives should also be targeted.
Hours after news of Thompson's death broke, Lorenz posted on social media site BlueSky, along with a report about Blue Cross Blue Shield no longer covering anesthesia for the entire duration of some surgeries. “And people are wondering why anyone would want this executive dead,” he wrote. The insurance company later reversed course on the proposed policy change after receiving backlash.
Since then, Lorenz has repeatedly changed her tune, even telling TV presenter Piers Morgan that she took “pleasure” in killing Thompson.
