Progressive lawmakers justify Brian Thompson's murder: "It's a wake-up call"

Several progressive lawmakers quickly weighed in on the killing of Brian Thompson, executive director of UnitedHealthcare. Some, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, called it a "wake-up call."

The Democratic congresswoman argued that, in her opinion, the incident demonstrates a "mass bubbling of resentment stemming from the precarious conditions many people have been living with." 

"We also don't want to see the extreme suffering that millions of Americans confront when your life changes overnight from a horrific diagnosis, and people are led to just some of the worst, not just health events, but the worst financial events of their and their family's lives," Ocasio-Cortez said in referring to the murder during an interview with Business Insider.

"I think for people who are surprised, it's a wake-up call for how much of this exists in our society," she added.

Meanwhile, Ocasio-Cortez's political mentor, Sen. Bernie Sanders, said the "outpouring of anger at the healthcare industry" showed that "millions of people understand that healthcare is a human right."

Democratic Representative Maxwell Frost made similar comments. While condemning any form of violence, he indicated that he could "understand" events like this and the reactions following the murder.

"There's so much animosity and hatred of this system that people are looking beyond maybe their typical moral scope to meme this guy, or to praise him, because the issue is just so pervasive. That's something to take note of," Frost said.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren also said she disagrees with the killing. She went on to say "this is a warning."

"This is a warning that if you push people hard enough, they lose faith in the ability of their government to make change, lose faith in the ability of the people who are providing the health care to make change, and start to take matters into their own hands in ways that will ultimately be a threat to everyone," she told Huff Post. 

However, other Democrats have condemned the murder, insisting that there are no justifications for it. Chris Murphy is one such example:

"It's pretty simple to me. Nobody who commits cold-blooded murder is a hero. Period, full stop."