The reactions from some on the left to the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson have been very unsettling, as Matt has reported extensively. Former Washington Post reporter Taylor Lorenz ran a piece titled, "Why 'we' want insurance executives dead," and people are racing to purchase the same jacket the suspect wore. In New York, where Thompson was gunned down outside a Hilton in Midtown, there's even an assassin lookalike contest with a cash prize. So to see this message a hacked traffic sign in Seattle displayed is hardly surprising at this point.
On Wednesday evening or early Thursday, drivers along Highway 99 in Seattle saw the signs read: "One less CEO," and "Many More to Go."
A KOMO News photographer spotted a disturbing message on a portable electronic road sign along a busy Seattle highway early Thursday morning. [...]
The sign did not belong to a government entity such as the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) or Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), SDOT's press secretary, Ethan Bergerson, said.
The sign belongs to a private construction construction contractor. An SDOT crew was dispatched to investigate the sign Thursday morning, but when the crew arrived, the message had already been removed, Bergerson said.
It is not yet known who tampered with the sign.
The Aurora Bridge, just north of where the sign was spotted, sees an average of nearly 62,000 commuters daily. (KOMO News)
The message "ONE LESS CEO, MANY MORE TO GO" was broadcasted on a sign along Hwy 99 near Dexter Ave in Seattle this morning. This follows similar posters threatening CEOs posted in NYC following the murder of@UHC CEO Brian Thompson https://t.co/QXFkXk4Xn3@komonews pic.twitter.com/L95opkDtNT
— Lynnanne Nguyen (@LynnanneNguyen) December 12, 2024
One Seattle resident told KIRO 7 that she was stunned by the signs.
"It's shocking. Really, that this is where our country seems to be going," she said. "I don't like it at all. The dialogue has gotten violent on both sides and this is what people think is a solution."