In a series of Instagram Stories posted using the hashtag ‘#KillMoreCEOs’ last Friday (January 10), Florida-raised musician Ethel Cain appeared to express her support for the killing of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

The Stories were sparked by a quote from US Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, who described money in politics as “the root of our dysfunction”. “Big Money corrupts our politics and erodes our democracy,” he wrote, “creating a vicious cycle that funnels more wealth and power to those at the top while everyone else suffers.”

Cain shared his quote on her Instagram Stories, before following up with some additional thoughts: “Corporations giggle at protesting,” Cain wrote. “Why would anyone ever willingly come down off their throne that they’ve spent years building off the suffering of their fellow man?”

“It’s simple, you make them fear for their lives and hit them in the only place they hurt otherwise nothing will ever get done,” she continued, concluding the post with an apparent justification of the killing of wealthy CEOs who have exploited their position: “It seems quite straightforward to me. ‘Violence is never the answer’ wrong. Sometimes it is.”

The musician, who released her extended project Perverts earlier last week, has previously written critically of President-elect Donald Trump, as well as expressing support for Luigi Mangione, who is currently awaiting trial for his alleged shooting of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson. “Violence begets violence ¯\_(ツ)_/¯” she wrote in the wake of Thompson’s shooting.

United Healthcare, one of the world’s largest insurance companies, has been heavily criticised for its use of creative loopholes to deny healthcare to individuals in need. In a manifesto apparently written by Mangione, his shooting of Thompson was motivated by negative experiences with health insurance companies, as well as isolation following a complicated spinal surgery that left him in chronic pain.

Mangione currently awaits trial for the shooting, and pleaded not guilty to state murder and terrorism charges on December 23. In one poll conducted in the immediate aftermath of the killing, two-thirds of respondents said they believed denials of coverage and profits in the health insurance industry were partially responsible for Thompson’s death.