On December 4, 2024, millionaire CEO of UnitedHealthcare, Brian Thompson, was gunned down on a New York City street just outside his hotel. Later that night, a small shrine was left at the site in honor of Thompson, though some noticed one balloon seemed out of place. Covered in flowers and smiley faces, the mylar balloon had a simple message printed on the front: “CEO Down.”
Following December 4, Americans across the political divide joined the conversation online, praising the, at the time, unknown shooter. When police released an image that revealed the bottom half of the killer’s face, videos, edits, and memes blew up. However, Americans weren’t discussing theories for motives or condemning the act of brazen violence. Instead, they were commenting on how cute he was. Before a suspect had even been arrested, Brian Thompson’s killer was cemented as an American folk hero.
Nearly a week after the shooting, authorities announced they had arrested a suspect in the case: Luigi Mangione, a 26-year-old Ivy League graduate with a promising career in data engineering. Immediately, the internet exploded with defense for Mangione. People who had never met him began setting up Gofundmes to cover his legal costs while others fabricated alibis for the man they had never met.
Investigators are still struggling to find a clear motive for Mangione and have yet to identify which side of the political divide he falls on. He follows Joe Rogan and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez. On Goodreads, he listed his favorite books as Atomic Habits, Sapiens, and Brave New World. Regardless of motive, Mangione continues to be a hero in the eyes of thousands of Americans, but why?
“The US has the #one most expensive healthcare system in the world, yet we rank roughly #42 in life expectancy,” Mangione allegedly wrote in the manifesto released by investigators. “They continue to abuse our country for immense profit because the American public has allowed them to get away with it.”
Regardless of politics and ideology, his message has resonated with many. On TikTok, creators flooded the app with stories of loved ones who died because they couldn’t afford their medical needs and were denied help by insurance giants like UnitedHealthcare. While Mangione used a weapon to kill one man illegally, many have rationalized it was justified, as the man he killed represented a corporation that has, in their eyes, killed hundreds of thousands.
