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New York state is considering creating a special hotline exclusively for CEOs to report perceived threats, CNN reported this morning. Nice little reminder of just how responsive government can be when it comes to corporate executives.
Coming at the heels of the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, the proposal is a sign of the acute concern by government officials when it comes to business executives — even though there have not been any other documented attacks on CEOs and the alleged shooter, Luigi Mangione, has been arrested.
The lack of any concrete threat hasn’t stopped officials from preparing for one. Last Thursday, New York Governor Kathy Hochul told MSNBC’s Morning Joe about her plans to hold a “proactive” meeting on Tuesday with 175 corporate representatives as well as Homeland Security and counterterrorism officials to discuss how to share intelligence with corporate security, according to Kathy Wylde, CEO of the Partnership for New York City.
The meeting is one of several signs that officials are trying to elevate the murder to a matter of domestic terrorism. Commenting on her conversations with Hochul, Wydle said that “she wants to make sure that the state resources, specifically the domestic counterterrorism resources, are focused on being supportive, sharing information.”
Last week, Florida authorities charged a mother of three with “threats to conduct a mass shooting or act of terrorism,” as I reported this weekend. The mother allegedly said in a phone call with Blue Cross Blue Shield “Delay, Deny, Depose” and told the company that “You people are next” after she had had a health insurance claim denied.
Obviously not something she should have said — which she recognizes, having apologized for the remark — but it seems like quite a reach to call that terrorism. Even more alarming is the full court press, from media as well as officials outside of Florida and New York, to view the grassroots outrage against health insurers through the lens of counterterrorism. I’ll have more on that shortly.
“Demonization of corporate executives is not new,” Wylde told Politico last week. “It was part of the rhetoric in the financial crisis of 2008-09.”
I’ve contacted Hochul’s office for comment and will update this story if they respond.
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