When a friend messaged me during Winter Break about how “fine” Luigi Mangione is, I sent her a gif of a baby smacking the screen, hoping to slap some sense into her. “Murder is wrong,” I responded.
Mangione has been charged with the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, and the evidence against him is strong. Yet many people online have expressed support for Mangione, whether by declaring him as gorgeous as a model or lauding him for targeting the CEO of a company they believe has acted immorally.
Mangione’s supporters consider it absurd to feel sympathy for the face of a corporation that has, in their eyes, killed thousands. “I feel terrible for [Mr. Thompson’s] kids and loved ones, but we’re talking about a CEO and a board that has no qualms whatsoever with separating a living, breathing human soul from their infinitely profiting business model,” a Reddit user wrote. “And they do this for millions of people. Why are we expected to feel something for just one of them?”
Thompson’s death resulted in a storm of fury on social media, with people revealing the many ways UnitedHealthcare has failed them. Posts described surgeries denied days before they were scheduled and hours and hours on the phone pleading with healthcare providers to cover basic treatments.
While Thompson is the face for a “garbage” healthcare system, Mangione is humanized by many people online. After piecing together parts of Mangione’s background, photos, hobbies, and social media presence, social media users claim to have found a “kind-hearted, smart kid.”
People note that Mangione was valedictorian at his prep school and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, that he liked NFL memes, backpacking across Asia, and video games.
He suffered from spondylolisthesis (a spinal disorder where vertebrae slip out of place) which was, according to one of his posts, “completely devastating as a young athletic person.” Mangione posted encouraging comments on r/Spondylolisthesis such as: “You’ll do great. We can’t be afraid to live our own lives to the fullest!” A user wrote, “As a fairly regular guy with chronic pain and some health issues, he could almost be me.”
Isn’t it always wrong to take an innocent life? But many people don’t view Mr. Thompson as innocent. He is seen as complicit in a healthcare system that has failed citizens. HealthLeaders announced that UnitedHealthcare dismissed one out of every three claims in 2023. U.S. News Report wrote that the denial rate of healthcare insurance claims across America range from 2% to 49%.
Just this month, a White House Report wrote that more than 100 million Americans struggle with medical debt. At the same time, Statista reports that the five largest healthcare insurers raked in $623 billion in 2024.
The politicians criticizing those gleeful over Thompson’s death are the same politicians who have failed to address the deaths of Americans every day from healthcare disparities, gun violence, climate disasters, and more. The death of Mr. Thompson has reignited a much-needed conversation about healthcare in the U.S.: will we have to wait for another person to be killed for us to talk about the injustice of America’s healthcare system again?
Politicians need to wake up and realize why people are cheering for an alleged murderer. Mr. Thompson’s murder reveals the anger many feel in an increasingly unjust society. As time passes without change, greed will swell and rage will grow. As John F. Kennedy said, “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.”
