A University of Pennsylvania professor has made some of her social media accounts private and appeared to shut down her TikTok account after she went viral for appearing to celebrate that the suspected killer of UnitedHealthCare CEO Brian Thompson was a graduate of the Ivy League school.
Luigi Mangione, The 26-year-old is accused of executing a former insurance executive on a New York City sidewalk last week. He was taken into custody on Monday at a McDonald's restaurant in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
He is wanted in New York on charges including second-degree murder, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, and second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument.
Since Thompson's killing last week, social media has been filled with posts celebrating or mocking Thompson's killing as justified by the anger people feel over their health insurance claims being denied.
Luigi Mangione is pictured in a photo in Pennsylvania after his arrest in connection with the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. (Obtained by Fox News Digital)
After Mangione was taken into custody as a person of interest on Monday, Julia Alexeeva, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, appeared to share several social media posts fawning over the murder suspect.
In one TikTok clip, Alexeyeva, who posts under the name “The Soviet,” smiles as the song “Do You Hear the People Singing?” plays. From the famous musical Les Miserables.
“I have never been more proud to be a professor at the University of Pennsylvania,” she wrote in the on-screen text, replacing the “E” in Penn with the number 3.
A statue of Benjamin Franklin at the University of Pennsylvania is seen in 2011. (John Grimm/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Alexeyeva is an assistant professor of English and Film and Media Studies at the university and describes herself as a “socialist and ardent anti-fascist.” Her website.
The posts gained momentum after they were reposted on X by popular account Libs of TikTok and UPenn graduate Eyal Yakoby.
“Disgusting,” Yacobi wrote in response. “University of Pennsylvania professor Julia Alexeyeva celebrates the alleged assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO and that the killer attended the University of Pennsylvania. For anyone wondering how America's youth can become so radicalized to kill someone, it's because of the extremist professors.”
Luigi Mangione, the CEO's murder suspect, screams as officers handcuff him as he arrives for his extradition hearing in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania on Tuesday, December 10, 2024. (David De Delgado for Fox News Digital)
Yacobi also shared an alleged screenshot from Alexeyeva's Instagram Stories in which she called Mangione “the icon we all need and deserve,” in response to a magazine article claiming knowledge of the murder suspect's sex life.
Yacobi also claimed that the professor had a history of left-wing activism on campus.
Since her post with X was shared by others, Alekseyeva has made her Instagram account private and has apparently removed her TikTok account under the same name, although her X account remains public.
The University of Pennsylvania and Alexeeva did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Other professors have also received backlash for their stunts He mocks Thompson's murder.
“Today, we mourn the death of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, who was shot to death… Wait, I'm sorry — today we mourn the deaths of the 68,000 Americans who needlessly die every year so that insurance company executives like Brian Thompson can become… “Millionaires,” Anthony Zinkus, a senior lecturer in social work at Columbia University's School of Social Work, posted on X on December 4.
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UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed in midtown Manhattan on Wednesday morning of last week. (Image source: Businesswire | NYPD Crimestoppers)
Zenkus' post has received more than 7 million views and has been flooded with comments criticizing him. In response to these comments, the professor made it clear that he did not justify killing.
“Killing someone publicly in cold blood in broad daylight is absolutely not acceptable,” he wrote in a follow-up post on December 6. “It is better to kill them by denying or delaying their demand for life-saving medical treatment until their families can see them.” They wither until they die slowly and painfully and painfully.”
These professors certainly weren't the only ones on social media to express these sentiments.
Piers Morgan unloaded on Taylor Lorenz on Monday after she claimed she felt happy following the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. (Screenshot/Piers Morgan uncensored)
Former Washington Post correspondent Taylor Lorenz He shared multiple posts that appear to at least understand the murder while suggesting targeting other health insurance executives.
Hours after news of Thompson's death broke, Lorenz wrote on the social media site BlueSky, “And people are asking why we want these CEOs dead,” along with a report that Blue Cross Blue Shield would no longer cover anesthesia for the duration of some surgeries. The insurance company has since Reverse path This proposed policy change after facing backlash.
Lorenz has since repeatedly compounded, So it seems to say TV presenter Piers Morgan said she felt “joyed” by Thompson's death.
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Fox News' David Rutz and Kylie Holland contributed to this report.
