Crime

Taylor Lorenz -- a controversial journalist formerly of the Washington Post -- is clarifying some of her comments about the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson ... and she says his brutal killing isn't the real tragedy here.

Taylor joined us on "TMZ Live" Thursday and we asked her what she meant by two social media posts that have gotten a lot of attention in the wake of Thompson's killing ... including one that lots of folks interpreted as her calling for more violence against healthcare executives.

She says she wasn't calling for murder when she shared a photo of the Blue Cross Blue Shield CEO Kim Keck above a post about BCBS announcing it wouldn't cover anesthesia for the entirety of some surgeries.

A former bodyguard for Brian Thompson, the UnitedHealthcare CEO who was shot and killed in NYC, is in complete disbelief the exec didn't have security when he was murdered.

Philip Klein, whose Texas-based security firm Klein Investigations previously provided bodyguards for Thompson in the 2000s, tells TMZ ... he is "shocked and baffled" to see the high-profile CEO didn't have a "detail" (at least 10 security guards) with him while out and about in Manhattan -- given the malevolence the insurance industry often faces.

He also says Thompson should've been wearing a vest in addition to having guards by his side, but adds ... he likely didn't have it on due to personal preference.

Lil Durk is facing a legal slugfest, with the feds claiming he's the mastermind behind a murder-for-hire plot ... and his attorneys are convinced it's a classic example of prosecutors grasping at straws with some street-savvy rap lyrics because they don't have a real case against the rap star.

The Chicago rapper's attorneys -- Drew Findling and Marissa Goldberg, of The Findling Law Firm, P.C., along with Jonathan Brayman, and Christy O'Connor -- tell TMZ Hip Hop ... "When you see an artist’s rap lyrics quoted as 'evidence' against them, it is a glaring indication that there is no real evidence against that person."

According to the feds, Durk detailed the steps that led up to the August 2022 murder of rival Quando Rondo's cousin Saviay'a Robinson on Babyface Ray's song "Wonderful Wayne & Jackie Boy" when he rapped ... "Told me they got an addy (gooo) / Got location (gooo) Green light (go, go, go, go, go) / Look on the news and see your son, You screamin’, 'No, no' (p***y!!!)"

Police say the suspect who killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson can't hide forever in NYC ... 'cause security cameras recorded a person believed to be the shooter riding away from the murder scene.

Check out the new video, obtained by ABC News, showing a person -- who cops say is the suspect -- riding down a Manhattan street just minutes after Thompson was shot to death early Wednesday outside a hotel.

It appears the rider's wearing a mask, riding down the street very quickly ... but, cops say this is the person they're looking for -- blending in with the rest of the concrete jungle.

The NYPD has released 2 photos of a man they call a "person of interest" in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson ... and the man bears a striking similarity to the killer.

The photos certainly appear to be the assassin ... the nose of the killer caught on surveillance video looks identical to the man in the new photos.

The new photos reveal almost all of his face ... he is not wearing the mask the assassin wore during the shooting.

The wife of slain UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson says he had received threats before his shocking assassination on the streets of NYC.

In a phone conversation with NBC News read out by the anchor ... Paulette Thompson said, "There had been some threats basically. I don't know. A lack of coverage? I don't know details. I just know that he said there were some people that had been threatening him."

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ there’s no official record of any threats being reported by Brian or any other UnitedHealthcare executives.

The masked assassin who took out UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was caught on camera casually chatting on the phone just minutes before pulling the trigger, new video shows.

Surveillance footage shows a man decked out in the same dark outfit -- hat, ski mask, and gray backpack -- holding a phone to his ear as he strolled east on 54th Street toward the Hilton hotel on Sixth Avenue around 6:30 AM Wednesday -- just 15 minutes before the fatal shooting.

The NYPD said the killer showed up about 5 minutes before the attack, lying in wait for his target. When the moment came, he used a gun with a silencer to fire the shots that killed Thompson.

A man’s stepping forward with a jaw-dropping claim -- he says he may have figured out the whereabouts of the assassin who shot UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson ... all thanks to Citi Bike's tracking data.

A data scientist named Riley, who goes by @rtwlz on X, dropped a bombshell post, revealing how he's been scraping Citi Bike data every minute ... and he could see exactly where individual bikes go.

And here's the kicker -- he says the only northbound Citi Bike to leave within 10 minutes of the shooting near the Hilton hotel where Thompson was entering, left at 6:44 AM and headed straight to a location at Madison Ave & 82nd St at 6:52 AM.

NYPD has clear footage of the killer who opened fire on UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Midtown Manhattan ... but only from behind the suspect.

Cops released the surveillance images captured Wednesday morning outside the Hilton hotel on 6th Ave and 54th Street ... and it shows 50-year-old Thompson strolling into the hotel by himself around 6:45 AM. The shooter walks up behind him, draws a handgun and starts shooting from less than 10 feet away.

It appears the suspect fired his weapon, which was fitted with a silencer, at least 3 times ... before fleeing into an alleyway on the other side of the street. Police say he made his getaway on a bicycle, which was captured on a different surveillance camera, and rode into Central Park ... just a few blocks away.

Los Angeles County’s new District Attorney, Nathan Hochman, is wasting no time after being sworn into the high-profile gig -- he's kicking things off with a case that’s been on everyone's mind -- the Menendez Brothers.

Hochman chatted with TMZ outside the Hall of Justice in downtown L.A. Tuesday after he was sworn in by Arnold Schwarzenegger, making it clear that, despite the public's obsession with Erik and Lyle's case, he's not going to treat it any differently than others.

Hochman explained to us that while he's sticking to his no-special-treatment approach, he sees the public interest as a win. Why? Because it helps shine a spotlight on the bigger issues in criminal justice and reform.

Los Angeles County's new District Attorney Nathan Hochman was sworn in by Arnold Schwarzenegger Tuesday at the Hall of Justice in downtown L.A.

Hochman is replacing outgoing D.A. George Gascón, who Nathan says was way too soft on violent and repeat offenders during his 4-year term ... and apparently voters agreed.

It's fitting ... Hochman says he's going to terminate a lot of the policies he calls lenient that Gascón was known for ... like not prosecuting drug possession and trespassing offenses ... and he's turning to the "Terminator" star -- and former California governor -- to get his first day in office started.

Leighton Vander Esch's dad was arrested over the weekend after he allegedly attempted to strangle the former Dallas Cowboys star's mom, new court documents, obtained by TMZ Sports, show.

According to the docs, the incident happened around midnight on Dec. 1 in Idaho County ... when Darwin Vander Esch allegedly got physical with his wife, Sandy Vander Esch, following an argument at a nearby bar.

Cops wrote that Sandy told them Darwin had locked her out of their house after the dispute, so she broke in ... and soon after, officers say she claimed her husband confronted her and put both of his hands around her neck and "was pushing and squeezing, not letting her talk or breathe."

The father of retired Dallas Cowboys star Leighton Vander Esch was arrested in Idaho over the weekend on several charges -- including felony attempted strangulation.

The Idaho County Sheriff's Office says it received a call regarding a domestic battery outside the city of Riggins around 12:16 AM on Dec. 1.

After cops arrived at the scene, 61-year-old Darwin Vander Esch was arrested for felony attempted strangulation and cited for misdemeanor domestic battery and misdemeanor intentional destruction of a telecommunication device.

Harvey Weinstein is back at Bellevue Hospital in New York City after getting some alarming results from a recent blood test ... TMZ has learned.

Weinstein's attorney, Imran H. Ansari, tells TMZ ... the blood test, taken at Rikers Island, was related to Weinstein's leukemia diagnosis, and while the results are concerning, his condition is treatable.

It's the latest health issue for Weinstein -- his attorney says he's "been suffering from a lack of adequate medical care and enduring deplorable and inhumane conditions on Rikers Island."

Mark Geragos says he's confident he would have gotten Hunter Biden off scot-free in his tax evasion trial, but President Biden's son didn't want to put his family back in the spotlight ... so he entered a guilty plea.

Hunter's attorney joined us on "TMZ Live" Monday and we pressed him about his risky decision to have Hunter enter an "open plea" ... meaning there was no deal with prosecutors regarding sentencing.

Mark says he was going to win Hunter's case by flipping the government's argument in the Delaware gun trial on its head ... namely, that HB was so addled by drug use he could not have intentionally violated tax codes.

Young Thug may have sprung out of jail, but one of his co-defendants is still having a rough time behind bars ... dodging sharp, pointy objects that want to take him out!!!

According to reports straight outta Fulton County, Georgia ... YSL rapper Yak Gotti, AKA Deamonte Kendrick, was involved in an altercation on the inside with another inmate on Sunday, resulting in him being stabbed!!!

"Kendrick received treatment for minor injuries from a sharp object at the Fulton County Jail," Fulton County Sheriff's Office Communications Director Natalie Ammons tells TMZ Hip Hop.