Suspected UnitedHealthcare CEO assassin Luigi Mangione has a cult following that has not only donated hundreds of thousands to his defense, his supporters are also saying his prosecution for a murder caught on camera is part of a “corporate-backed narrative” and that the case against him is “unprecedented.” This comes as mainstream media is ripped for buying into the hype.
On Dec. 4, 2024, a masked assailant approached UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson from behind and opened fire.
Surveillance video shows the cold-blooded attack and a female bystander running in fear as the killer nonchalantly walks off before taking a meandering path uptown through Central Park.
Police have accused Mangione of being the man in the video. They say he made his way out of town and laid low until people at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, recognized him from a wanted poster and called police five days after the slaying.
He was arrested while eating breakfast at the fast food joint, one of the most iconic corporate chains in the world.
But online supporters continue to praise him as “a figure of humanitarianism” and “anti-capitalism.”
“Don’t give in into this corporate backed narrative,” reads a post on a Reddit forum, r/FreeLuigi, in which the author criticizes a new ID documentary, “Who is Luigi Mangione?”
It received hundreds of upvotes and a few dozen comments, some urging supporters to donate to his defense and ignore reporting on the case.
Mangione faces a slew of charges at the state and federal level, the most serious of which could carry the death penalty.
Mangione is accused of “meticulously” planning the murder with the motive of igniting a “public discussion about the healthcare industry,” according to the Justice Department.
Federal prosecutors allege he stalked the victim, arrived in New York City a week in advance and scouted his surroundings.
Police allegedly found his DNA and fingerprints near the crime scene and say he had a gun linked to the murder in his backpack when he was arrested days later.
The NYPD released a still image from surveillance video, showing him pulling his coronavirus mask down and smiling while flirting with a clerk at the check-in of the Manhattan hostel where police say he stayed for the murder.
It went viral and immediately attracted a wave of support online for the accused killer.
Other r/FreeLuigi posts have described the accused assassin as a humanitarian and a “positive inspiration.” The subreddit’s description calls it a forum to “discuss healthcare reform and related topics” along with Mangione’s criminal case.
When officers approached, they immediately recognized him even though he was wearing a medical mask, according to court documents.
However, he allegedly handed over a fake ID and gave a phony name. In his bag, police allegedly recovered the suspected murder weapon, a 3D-printed suppressor and the same fake ID used to check into the New York hostel.
Police found shell casings at the scene with sinister messages written on them, “depose,” “deny” and “defend,” according to authorities.
The words are similar to the title of a book critical of the insurance industry in which the victim was a key figure, “Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don’t Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It.”
The alleged assassination happened right outside a hotel where Thompson, a married father of two from Minnesota, was supposed to attend a Wall Street shareholder conference later in the morning.
But Mangione’s supporters say the prosection is both “unprecedented” and a sign of government overreach.
Even legal experts who do not number among his defenders have criticized the massive police presence at his perp walk, when he arrived in New York City via helicopter and was met by the mayor, the NYPD commissioner and dozens of officers in tactical gear.
“The prep walk was just out of control,” said Joseph Giacalone, a retired NYPD sergeant and criminal justice professor at Penn State-Lehigh Valley. “This isn’t like you’re walking the guy out of the precinct and you got to get him into a car. This was such a staged event.”
Typically, photographers line up outside a police building and hope to get a picture of a suspect as he is escorted by a couple of detectives to or from a police vehicle for a booking or court appearance. In Mangione’s case, police set up a massive reception.
The optics likely won’t affect the case, Giacalone said, but some of the theatrics would have been better suited for the arrest of the Son of Sam serial killer, David Berkowitz.
“They made a production out of it,” Giacalone said, adding that having the tactical team present was actually a reasonable move due to Mangione’s widespread support.
Mangione comes from a wealthy family, attended a private high school and has an Ivy League bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He has a top-tier private attorney.
Supporters say they have raised nearly $300,000 for his legal defense.
