Former Washington Post reporter Taylor Lorenz has ignited controversy with her reaction to the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, both on social media and during a television appearance.

Lorenz shared a TikTok video on her Instagram account that seemingly trivialized the killing, featuring the location of the shooting, the Midtown Hilton Hotel in Manhattan, as a stop on a so-called "UnitedHealthcare CEO assassination tour." The original TikTok user, @lolaith, captioned the video with "Where the magic happened."

The video included other locations related to the incident, including the café where a witness reportedly bought coffee and the area where Thompson was shot, referred to as "cameras that captured it all!" It also showed Central Park, captioned as the killer's escape route.

Lorenz's online activity also included sharing posts that appeared to celebrate the alleged killer, Luigi Mangione, focusing on his perceived attractiveness and growing online fandom. Mangione was apprehended in Pennsylvania with several fake IDs, a firearm and silencer similar to those used in the crime, and a manifesto criticizing the health insurance industry.

In a Substack article, Lorenz described Mangione as becoming a "national hero" and detailed the growing online support for him, including tattoos, fancams, and memes. She quoted individuals expressing disillusionment with the political system and media, suggesting they saw Mangione as someone taking action.

On Piers Morgan Uncensored, Lorenz initially admitted to feeling "joy" over Thompson's death, justifying it by citing the suffering and deaths allegedly caused by the healthcare industry's policies. She later retracted the statement, clarifying she did not endorse violence against healthcare executives and regretted her word choice. Lorenz's earlier social media posts had expressed similar sentiments, questioning why people wouldn't want such executives dead and defending the "justified hatred" towards them.

This incident follows a previous post where Lorenz shared news about a healthcare company denying coverage for the full duration of anesthesia during some surgeries, adding the comment, "And people wonder why we want these executives dead."