This is a genuine question.
I have a hard time with this. My righteous side wants him to face an appropriate sentence, but my pessimistic side thinks this might have set a great example for CEOs to always maintain a level of humanity or face unforseen consequences.
P.S. this topic is highly controversial and I want actual opinions so let’s be civil.
And if you’re a mod, delete this if the post is inappropriate or if it gets too heated.
I am a pacifist, and I recognize the danger of encouraging/pardoning vigilantism. There are people I feel are heroes, who others view as villains. People should argue, debate, and put pressure as much as possible with non violence… but that is clearly not working for the ultra wealthy who are so insulated from 99.9% of what we can do.
The murdered man was, even by US capitalist standards, excessively evil. In a functioning and just system he would have had life in prison with no chance of parole for 1000+ counts of at the very least man slaughter for the millions of people whose health care was delayed or prevented. The world is a slightly better place without that level of extreme greed and heartlessness in it.
I also feel like the main point of prison “SHOULD” be Prevention and Rehabilitation. Which if the Attacker was personally harmed by a CEO and lashed out, I don’t think prison can accomplish either for him. I guess the US gov probably disagrees and thinks he should be rehabilitated as someone who is okay with being exploited by CEOs.
But I do want all evidence laid out, I want a jury to determine if he’s unhinged and a danger to others, or someone who was hurt on a fundamental level and lashed out. We of course assume it’s the second one, but we don’t know yet.
Juries and judges will sometimes use the kid gloves when dealing with people who kill their abusers, and I think a light sentence with the message of “murder is wrong… but so is allowing thousands to die to increase profits. So maybe don’t be so evil people wouldn’t mind giving up 10 years of their lives to see you removed from this world” would be fine.
… but also if this becomes another one of a million unsolved cases, I won’t lose a wink of sleep about it.