In New York City on Saturday, a look-alike contest for the suspect who shot and killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was held.
The event took place in Washington Square Park where individuals came wearing outfits that resembled what the suspect wore during the shooting. In a video captured of the event, one person even wore a shirt that said, “DENY, DEFEND, DEPOSE,” — the words found on the ammunition recovered from the murder scene that also echo a common phrase associated with insurer tactics.
At one point in the video, eight contestants are judged to determine who looks the most like the shooter. One of them, wearing an olive green jacket with a grey face mask, jokes that he actually is the suspect. “I am the guy,” he says. “I just got back from Atlanta.”
The same contestant later says that this is the first annual competition, so “hopefully next year there will be more contestants.” When seemingly announced as the winner, he also explains his plan to give half of the cash prize to Palestinian relief.
On social media, reactions to the contest have been all over the place. Russ has spoken out about the event, criticizing it and the people that were there. “Where are we at as a society? Lol insanity,” he wrote. “People in my mentions tryna tell me that pop culture pages reporting on look-alike contests of a murder is normal lmao absurdity continues to get desensitized. We’re living in a new season of black mirror.”
When someone hopped on his mentions to tell him not to defend the healthcare industry, Russ explained that he was defending “sanity.” “People are nuts for taking time our of their day to show up to a lookalike contest for a murderer. People’s brains are mush lol.”
Check out some other reactions from the look-alike contest.
The man has been identified, according to the latest details in the search for the suspect. New York City Mayor Eric Adams was quoted on Saturday as saying, "The net is tightening," and authorities are closing in on him.
NYPD has released two new photos of the suspect too.