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LAKELAND, Fla. (WFLA) — A Lakeland woman was charged Tuesday after police said she ended a call to an insurance company with the words, “Delay, Deny, Depose.”
In an arrest affidavit, the Lakeland Police Department said officers were contacted by the FBI on Tuesday, Dec. 10 regarding an alleged threat made over the phone.
Briana Boston, 42, had reportedly placed a call to BlueCross BlueShield regarding recent medical insurance claims she was denied. The entire phone call was recorded, according to the affidavit.
Near the end of the call, investigators said Boston could be heard stating, “Delay, Deny, Depose. You people are next.” The first three words are similar to those written on the ammunition that a gunman used in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City last week.
The affidavit noted the similarities between the incidents, stating that those words have become nationally recognized as a phrase “directed against insurance companies.”
Police made contact with Boston at her home in Lakeland, where she reportedly admitted to using those words during the call, telling detectives that “healthcare companies played games and deserved karma from the world because they are evil.”
Boston reportedly told detectives she used the phrase “because it’s what is in the news right now,” and that she had learned of the phrase due to the UnitedHealthcare homicide.
However, Boston added that she does not own any firearms and “was not a danger to anyone,” police said.
Based on Boston’s statements, investigators said they believed she meant to threaten the insurance company “by using the UnitedHealthcare CEO’s homicide to her advantage.”
Boston was charged with threats to conduct a mass shooting or an act of terrorism, according to the affidavit.
A judge set her bond at $100,000, stating, “I do find that the bond of $100,000 is appropriate considering the status of our country at this point.”