Niamh Shackleton
A woman has been arrested for threatening a health insurance employee just weeks after the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
On December 4, Thompson was fatally shot outside a hotel in New York.
A nationwide manhunt was sparked following his murder, and Luigi Mangione has been named a key suspect in the case.
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Mangione, 26, was apprehended on Monday (December 9) and has since been charged with Thompson's murder.
Mangione is believed to have carved a chilling three-word message on the bullets that Thompson was killed with.
According to police, the bullets read 'deny', 'depose', 'defend' on them.
The message is said to be in reference to a book written by Rutgers Law School professor Jay M. Feinman. It's titled Delay, Deny, Defend: Why insurance companies don’t pay claims and what you can do about it.
Now, a Florida resident has reportedly used the same words in an apparent threat to a Blue Cross Blue Shield employee following a declined health insurance claim.
Briana Boston of Lakeland told them: "Delay, deny, depose. You people are next."
Boston, 42, went on to be arrested for the remarks she made after the employee she uttered them to called the FBI.
The Lakeland Police Department later arrived at Boston’s home to discuss the matter with her and she was arrested.
An arrest affidavit says that Boston 'acknowledged' she said the words and apologized for the sentiments made, The Independent reports.
The 42-year-old said she had learnt of the phrase following Brian Thompson's death and believed it suited her situation in light of her claim being rejected.
"Boston further stated the healthcare companies played games and deserved karma from the world because they are evil," the affidavit added.
However, the mother-of-three insisted that she 'didn’t mean anything by it' and that she does not own any firearms.
But Boston has since been charged with threats to conduct a mass shooting or an act of terrorism.
Speaking on her arrest, Lakeland Police Chief Sam Taylor said, as per WFLA: "She’s been in this world long enough that she certainly should know better that you can’t make threats like that in the current environment that we live in and think that we’re not going to follow up and put you in jail."
A judge has set Boston's bond at $100,000.
UNILAD have approached Lakeland Police Department for comment.