After Brian Thompson, CEO of the health insurance firm UnitedHealthcare, was gunned down on December 4th in what police soon considered to have been a targeted assassination, many Americans online chose not to go after the suspected shooter, but Thompson himself. His company refused an estimated one-third of claims submitted, according to Forbes, which pointed to “anger and frustration over insurance denials and medical costs.” Journalist Taylor Lorenz even said the killing of the husband and father made her feel “joy.”
The charging on Monday of 26-year-old Luigi Mangione with second-degree murder for Thompson’s killing has only helped to push this narrative further. A not-insignificant number of social media users have taken to labelling Mangione America’s new “Robin Hood,” with some even saying that he ought to be freed before trial.
This “creepy idolisation” of a suspected murderer is a “new low for the ‘very online’ left,” according to Brendan O’Neill.
Newsmax host Todd Starnes added that elements of “Big Media and the Democrats” are creating this Robin Hood profile at the same time as “they’re treating NYC subway hero Daniel Penny like a war criminal,” saying
This is what happens when a nation abolishes absolute truth. This country is in the midst of a severe moral crisis.
But Turning Point founder Charlie Kirk says it is still important to understand what it is that has led so many to celebrate Thompson’s death, pointing to a “deeper and darker picture into how broken health insurance is in this country.”
Former FBI agent Terry Rankhorn added that Mangione was (allegedly) “acting out what might be some people’s fantasy,” given that “every time you go to the doctor, there’s a fear” which begs the question, “is this going to be the doctor’s visit that bankrupts me because my insurance company won’t pay for it.”
Thompson’s image is likely to have been tarnished among those on the left hailing his (alleged) actions by his highly privileged credentials and connections. Members of his family are involved in sizable leisure businesses, the nursing home company Lorien Health Services, and politics.
The suspect, who is understood to suffer from serious back problems, and who was allegedly found with a ‘manifesto’ claiming that “these parasites simply had it coming,” shouted to the press about “an insult to the intelligence of the American people” as he was physically dragged into a Pennsylvania courthouse on Tuesday.
These events have also prompted a discussion within the mainstream media—and, no doubt, inside boardrooms across the country—about the protection of health industry executives, with some outlets pointing to fears that more figures could be targeted soon.
