A 26-year-old man named Luigi Mangione has been charged with murder for killing a top health insurance executive in New York. Despite the condemnation, he has received over $31,000 in donations to support his legal defense, with many expressing frustration and anger towards the US healthcare system.
Mangione is accused of shooting Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, outside a Manhattan hotel on December 4th. The crime was sparked by Mangione’s claim that he killed Thompson because he believed the insurance company was “out of touch” and “an insult to the intelligence of the American people.”
Many donors have expressed their own frustrations with the US healthcare system, citing rising costs, denied treatments, and soaring executive pay. Some have compared denying health coverage to a form of murder.
In response to Mangione’s outburst in court, police have matched his fingerprints with evidence found at the crime scene, including shell casings and handwritten documents that suggest he believed the killing was justified as a response to corporate greed.
The reaction to Mangione has been widely condemned, including by Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, who called it “deeply disturbing.” Executives from Pfizer and Amazon have also spoken out, saying that the healthcare system needs improvement and that there should be no moral equivalence between advocating for policy changes and resorting to violence.
Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/luigi-mangione-was-charged-with-murder-then-donations-started-pouring-2024-12-12