Washington — Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas called the rhetoric on social media “extremely alarming” that followed the murder of the CEO of UnitedHealthcare Brian Thompson earlier this month warned of the risk of violent extremism this entails.
Mayorkas said in an interview that aired on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” that he is “alarmed” by the “heroism attributed to an alleged murderer of a father of two on the streets of New York City,” as the the murder of the insurance executive in Manhattan on December 4 did just that made for a scattered celebration on social media — and cheering on the man accused of the fatal shooting.
“It speaks to what is really bubbling here in this country, and unfortunately we are seeing that manifest in violence, the domestic violent extremism that exists,” Mayorkas said.
Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old suspect, is confronted federal charges including murder. The working theory of the investigators’ motive is hostility toward the healthcare industry. On social media, support for the suspect has materialized in surrounding grievances over perceived inequality in the insurance and health care systems.
Mayorkas said the department is seeing a “wide range of stories” that “incite some individuals to violence.”
“We have seen stories of hate. We’ve seen stories of anti-government sentiment. We have seen personal grievances in the language of violence that accompanied or were part of these stories,” Mayorkas said. “It’s something we’re very concerned about: a heightened threat environment.”
The Homeland Security secretary said the threat of domestic violent extremism is “one of the major threat streams we must counter.” And he noted that DHS has been concerned about the rhetoric on social media “for some time.”
Still, Mayorkas, whose term at the helm of the department ends next month, said that while his trust in the American people has been “affected” by incidents like the “cold-blooded murder of a United Health Care executive,” he noted that “that the actions of an individual are not reflective of the American public and the democracy in which we live.”
“I have confidence in the American people,” Mayorkas added.
