The 42-year-old Lakeland woman is being held in jail on a $100,000 bond.
Briana Boston, a 42-year-old Florida woman, was arrested for allegedly making a threat to her health insurance company using language inspired by the recent United Healthcare CEO killing. Screenshot via GoFundMe
People are crowdfunding money online to support Briana Boston, a Florida woman arrested for allegedly threatening her health insurance company using language inspired by the recent UnitedHealthcare CEO killing.
On Tuesday, while ending a phone call with a representative from Blue Cross Blue Shield, which reportedly denied her medical claim, the 42-year-old Lakeland woman told a representative, “Delay, deny, depose. You people are next,” according to an arrest affidavit.
The words deny, defend, and depose were engraved on shell casings police recovered from the scene where UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was fatally shot in New York City on December 4, in a shocking episode that shed a glaring light on Americans’ pent-up frustration with the nation’s health-insurance industry and sparked wider conversations about the healthcare system as a whole.
Boston, who has been charged with threatening to conduct a mass shooting or act of terrorism, apologized to police and said she “used those words because it’s what is in the news right now,” according to the affidavit.
Boston also told authorities that she does not own any guns and is not a threat, according to the affidavit, but went on to criticize healthcare companies, calling them “evil” and saying they “deserve karma.”
She is being held in a Polk County jail on a $100,000 bond.
Thompson’s alleged killer, 26-year-old Luigi Mangione, was almost immediately hailed on social media as a folk hero, with supporters raising more than $50,000 for him via at least one fundraiser titled “Legal Fund: Luigi Mangione — CEO Shooting Suspect.”
Though Boston’s case is different — it is based on words that were spoken as opposed to a weapon that was fatally fired — it appears similar efforts have been made on her behalf, as several crowdfunding efforts have sprung up since her arrest.
One on GoFundMe, titled “Support Briana: Overcome Her $100K Bail,” has raised nearly $1,300; another fundraiser on GiveSendGo, titled “Briana Bostons Bond,” has raised almost $700.
Internet archives show that a third fundraiser, “Free Briana Boston — Fund Her Legal Battle,” raised $1,555 on GoFundMe before being removed.
“In Lakeland, FL, a woman has been arrested for using her freedom of speech because it scared capital. Never mind the millions of Americans who fear for their lives because of the crooks that deny, delay life-saving tests, medication, and treatments so they can grow even more wealthy,” the crowdfunding plea read, according to archive. “This money is to pay her bond and get her a solid legal defense.”
It’s unclear when or why that effort was taken down. A spokesperson for GoFundMe tells New Times that its trust and safety team is “looking into” the fundraiser and has reached out to the organizer for more information.
She said she “used those words because it’s what is in the news right now,”
I’m calling manure on that because nowhere on the news are they saying, “You people are next.” That four-word addition turned it into a domestic terrorism threat. Stupidity is not a valid criminal defense, and no one should be defending that woman.
If nothing else, they have to prosecute her to send a message that such implied threats will not be tolerated.