{"id":135581,"date":"2024-12-10T22:18:58","date_gmt":"2024-12-10T15:18:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=135581"},"modified":"2024-12-10T22:18:58","modified_gmt":"2024-12-10T15:18:58","slug":"merch-glorifying-united-healthcare-ceo-killer-floods-online-stores","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=135581","title":{"rendered":"Merch glorifying United Healthcare CEO killer floods online stores\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"\">On e-commerce platforms like Etsy, TikTok Shop, eBay and Redbubble, sellers are hawking merchandise featuring designs inspired by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/us-news\/man-fatally-shot-nyc-hotel-police-say-rcna182789\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">fatal shooting<\/a> of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">NBC News reviewed over 100 item listings for T-shirts, hoodies, stickers, mugs and even fake bullets and Christmas ornaments that bear the words \u201cDeny,\u201d \u201cDefend\u201d and \u201cDepose\u201d after bullet shell casings <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/us-news\/unitedhealthcare-ceo-brian-thompson-shot-dead-gunman-bullet-casings-rcna182975\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">were found<\/a> with those words on them at the scene of the crime (the word \u201cDefend\u201d was later clarified by the police to be \u201cDelay\u201d).<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Some of the merchandise features drawings or images of the shooter taken from the initial video of the shooting. A suspect, Luigi Mangione, was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/us-news\/murder-charge-filed-unitedhealthcare-ceo-suspect-new-york-rcna182988\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">charged with murder<\/a> Monday. There has been significant <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/investigations\/insurance-executives-murder-sparks-online-praise-hate-rcna183017\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">online fanfare<\/a> surrounding the shooting, with many people making light of the killing or outright celebrating it. The targeting of Thompson and the shooter\u2019s message have been widely interpreted as a commentary on the state of the health insurance industry, with many people sharing stories of coverage denial, mistreatment and financial hardship they\u2019ve faced within the system.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Thompson was a father to two sons. In a statement, his family called him an \u201cincredibly loving, generous, talented man who truly lived life to the fullest and touched so many lives\u201d and said he \u201cwill be greatly missed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/us-news\/live-blog\/unitedhealthcare-ceo-shooting-suspect-charged-murder-live-updates-rcna183566\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong><em>Follow here for live coverage<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"\">The T-shirts and other merchandise join the swell of sentiment around the shooting. Many of the designs appear to be sold through print on demand, a business model that produces items only after orders are received, so sellers don\u2019t have to keep inventory on hand. The freewheeling print-on-demand industry <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/freewheeling-copyright-infringing-world-custom-printed-tees\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">has continued to boom<\/a> despite issues like rampant copyright infringement.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">While many of the products just feature the messages left on the bullet shell casings, other designs more explicitly glorify or encourage violence. Some of the designs feature guillotines, guns and target symbols.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Etsy, Redbubble, TikTok Shop and eBay all prohibit selling items that glorify violence. In a statement, an eBay representative said &#8220;\u201ceBay policies do not prohibit the sale of items with the phrase \u2018Deny. Defend. Depose.,\u2019 however, items that glorify or incite violence, including those that celebrate the recent murder of UHC CEO Brian Thompson, are prohibited.\u201d Etsy, Redbubble and TikTok didn\u2019t immediately respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">While the expanding market for merchandise related to the shooting appears to largely be for-profit, with prices ranging from $2.99 to over $70 for a blanket, one seller told NBC News he plans to donate any proceeds he makes to a charity that assists people with paying their medical bills.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">The graphic designer behind one version of the merch, Michael, spoke on the condition that his last name be withheld because he feared professional repercussions. In <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/t\/ZTYmekmW8\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a TikTok video<\/a> with almost 2 million views, Michael referred to a nickname some people online have started to use to refer to the shooter, \u201cThe Adjuster.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cIf we\u2019re going to give him a badass superhero name, I think he needs a badass superhero logo to go with it,\u201d Michael said in the video. He flipped and repurposed the UnitedHealthcare logo to feature an \u201cA\u201d and the words \u201cDeny,\u201d \u201cDefend\u201d and \u201cDepose.\u201d Michael is selling the design on two different T-shirts and two hoodies on Etsy, and he said he got more than two dozen orders in less than 24 hours, making it his fastest-selling design.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cI don\u2019t personally believe in violence, but I have a problem with their entire business making money off people suffering and dying,\u201d Michael said about the health insurance industry and his reasons for making the design. \u201cI think health care should be free; I think a lot of people feel that way. Even though it\u2019s not the way we\u2019d go about it, we\u2019re tired about not seeing anything get done.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Michael said that it didn\u2019t surprise him that the print-on-demand industry was capitalizing on what he considers an anti-capitalist movement but that he didn\u2019t want to personally profit from someone\u2019s death. He said he was inspired to create the design after he saw a flood of content on TikTok over the weekend that framed the shooter as a hero and an outlaw, including original folk songs about the shooting. Pictures of stickers and other artwork that said \u201cDeny,\u201d \u201cDefend\u201d and \u201cDepose\u201d at craft fairs over the weekend have also gained traction online.<\/p>\n<p class=\"endmark\">\u201cI always wondered why people root for guys robbing trains, and then you realize how corrupt banks are, and then you\u2019re like, \u2018I kind of get it,\u2019\u201d Michael said. \u201cIt says something about society that we can relate to the killer more than the billionaire and his family.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.tiktok.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1660802\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/tech\/internet\/united-healthcare-ceo-killer-suspect-merch-luigi-mangione-rcna183444\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On e-commerce platforms like Etsy, TikTok Shop, eBay and Redbubble, sellers are hawking merchandise featuring designs inspired by the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.\u00a0 NBC News reviewed over &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=135581\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-135581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=135581"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135581\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=135581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=135581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=135581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}