Palestinian-American filmmaker Lexi Alexander posted a meme on social media appearing to celebrate the murder of Bank of America vice president Erin Piacenti, who was fatally stabbed in Times Square on Monday.

Piacenti, 32, was killed in a random attack by Pamela Cisneros, a 49-year-old woman with a documented mental health history. Cisneros stabbed Piacenti in the stomach shortly after wounding a 68-year-old man nearby before police shot her dead.

Piacenti had returned to work that day after five months of maternity leave with her infant daughter.

Alexander shared an image of Batman looking at a bat signal featuring the face of Luigi Mangione, the suspect in the 2024 killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

The post, which was labeled with a “content warning” before it became visible, responded to news reports identifying Piacenti's employer. In comments, Alexander accused Israeli "bots" of responding and linked the incident to past calls to boycott Bank of America over its ties to Israel.

“Hasbara bots out in full swing just like the first time we asked people to boycott BofA,” Alexander said.

The director's actions echo the wave of memes that followed the 2025 assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Online users turned Kirk's image into widespread "Kirkification" face swaps and ironic edits across platforms, often mocking the victim amid discussions of political violence. This continued trend of celebrating or memeing deaths of perceived adversaries lends credence to the theory that actions like Alexander’s post have been normalized by the public.

Critics were quick to point out that if Piacenti was not in a high-ranking position, a post like Alexander's would not have been published, adding that the 68-year-old man who was also attacked has been largely ignored.

Reaction to Piacenti’s death mirroring that of Thompson’s has raised concerns that some Americans will justify violence towards one another if it supports their agenda.

A New York Post contributor, Douglas Murray, spoke with Fox News regarding the overwhelming support Mangione had despite his alleged murder charge.

"The terrorists and the assassins and the murderers now have this growing number of people who seem, frankly, as I wrote in The Post the other day, to treat life as if it's some kind of computer game," Murray said.

While there has been little if any support for Cisneros’ actions, the conversation has shifted away from the brutal attack to that of addressing mental health concerns.

Bank of America issued a statement expressing shock and sadness over the loss of a valued teammate and extending condolences to her family.

"We are shocked and deeply saddened by the tragic loss ​of our colleague. She was a ​valued teammate who will be greatly ⁠missed. Our hearts go out to her ​family and all of her loved ones," the bank wrote in the email obtained by Reuters.

Alexander's representatives did not respond to requests for comment. The post drew widespread condemnation for appearing to cheer the killing of a new mother in an unprovoked attack.