I doubt it in this case. He’s not holding onto any secrets that he might spill. Killing him is only to their advantage if it sends a message “don’t mess with us or you’ll die”. That works if he’s convicted and executed, that doesn’t work if it’s seen as “a company will just assassinate you”. They’d have to keep the assassination a secret, which would defeat the purpose.
In any case, if he is not convicted and walks free then the people will know that the actual shooter was never caught and that there were no consequences for his action. The only thing they can truly do is prolong this case for as long as is necessary so that the people can never be 100% sure that they didn’t catch the actual shooter, or so they forget this all ever happened at all.
I doubt it in this case. He’s not holding onto any secrets that he might spill. Killing him is only to their advantage if it sends a message “don’t mess with us or you’ll die”. That works if he’s convicted and executed, that doesn’t work if it’s seen as “a company will just assassinate you”. They’d have to keep the assassination a secret, which would defeat the purpose.
But he has become a symbol greater than himself.
To wit:
You can’t kill an idea
In any case, if he is not convicted and walks free then the people will know that the actual shooter was never caught and that there were no consequences for his action. The only thing they can truly do is prolong this case for as long as is necessary so that the people can never be 100% sure that they didn’t catch the actual shooter, or so they forget this all ever happened at all.