A disturbing digital road sign in the southbound lanes of State Route 99 and Dexter Avenue North has left Seattle commuters shocked.
It reads, “One less CEO, many more to go”. This display happening eight days after UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed outside a New York City hotel.
26-year-old Luigi Mangione is now facing charges in connection with the shooting. He is expected to be sent back to New York after being arrested in Pennsylvania on Monday morning.
Now, 2,500 miles from that scene, the alarming sign appeared in Seattle on Aurora Avenue. That highway is known as one of the most traveled commutes in Seattle, with more than 60,000 people a day passing the street where the digital board is.
Residents like Kelley Beebe say they never expected to see something like this about a man being murdered.
”It’s shocking. Really, that this is where our country seems to be going,” Beebe said. “I don’t like it at all. The dialogue has gotten violent on both sides and this is what people think is a solution.”
We have confirmed the sign is not owned or operated by Seattle Department of Transportation of Washington Department of Transportation.
SDOT shared a statement with KIRO 7 just hours after the sign was found:
“This sign is not owned by SDOT. It belongs to a private construction contractor. An SDOT response team was dispatched to investigate the sign this morning, and when we arrived the disturbing message had already been removed.”
The sign was flashing the message at 2 a.m., but by 6:30 a.m. it was turned off completely.
Beebe tells us it’s disappointing to see how calloused people have become in tragedy. “I don’t think violence is the solution but obviously people feel really desperate if they’re turning to rhetoric like that,” Beebe said.
We are looking into who exactly owns the digital sign and why the message was displayed.
Typically, the board displays a detour message regarding construction happening on Roy Street, about a mile south.
We have reached out to multiple construction companies working on projects in the area. Once we have those details, we will get them out to you.