August 18, 2026
Luigi Mangione, the suspected murderer of United Health Care CEO Brian Thompson in 2024, pled guilty in court last week to the killing. “I shot Mr. Thompson in Manhattan,” Mangione said in his plea. “I understood that my actions would place him in fear of death or bodily injury. I knew what I was doing was illegal.”
Mangione, reading his statement to the court. said that “after years of enduring severe pain from an injured back and navigating the insurance system, he learned that UnitedHealthcare would be holding its annual investor conference in New York City on Dec. 4, 2024,” as reported by the New York Times.
He then went to NYC in possession of a gun he made with a 3-D printer with a silencer affixed to it, and committed cold-blooded murder against someone who did not cause his pain, but worked in the health insurance industry which Mangione blamed for his discomfort.
Federal prosecutors said they will seek life in prison, the maximum sentence possible, when Mangione is sentenced in December.
So, just who is Luigi Mangione? According to the Times report, he “was born into a prosperous Maryland family that owned country clubs, nursing homes and a conservative talk radio station. He attended a private, all-boys high school in Baltimore.” That isn’t the sort of life that should build hatred.
Question: How can someone who had such a good life, with a successful and prosperous family, not have learned one of the most basic lessons of life: that murder is wrong?
As nauseating and irrational as Mangione’s action was, nearly as bad is the high level of support this murderous rich kid has received from others.
“The murder of Brian Thompson, the UnitedHealthcare executive, in late 2024 unearthed a torrent of public outrage against the health insurance industry,” the Times reported. “And since then, Americans’ anger has solidified into deep mistrust of the companies.
“Much of the current dissatisfaction stems from rising economic concerns: More and more people cannot afford the increasing costs of insurance premiums and medical bills.”
This situation is now the justification for the murder of an insurance executive, causing unimaginable pain and suffering among his family, friends and co-workers, and not solving the problem.
The Times report continued, “Outside the courthouse, Abril Rios, one of the self-described “Mangionistas” who received a city-issued press badge, said she felt ‘relieved’ to hear Mangione’s testimony detailing the crime. ‘I see the move today as still fighting it,’ she said. ‘I don’t think this is a concession or an admission of guilt.’”
This madness was also covered by CNN, which reported that someone called “Katie” appeared at a Manhattan protest “wearing a black shirt with a large photo of the 26-year-old suspected shooter. ‘But Daddy I Love Him,’ the shirt read in pink.
“’I just thought it was fun and cute and something to show his face and show support,’ she said.
“Did she actually, as the shirt said, love Mangione?
“’I don’t know if you can love someone you’ve never met,’ she responded. ‘I love whoever made that action to stand for health care … They really took a stand. I’m actually surprised something like this hasn’t happened before.’
“’Whoever did commit that act, I really do see him as a hero and a martyr.’
Katie was one of a few dozen people who came to a protest outside federal court in New York City to express support for Mangione.”
Strangely, support for cold-blooded murder has been seen at other protests, where signs with “Free Luigi” were seen, and protesters wore green, referencing Nintendo’s “Luigi” character.
After his arrest and being charged, this murderer received hundreds of supporting letters from not only the US, but also Brazil, Japan and Australia.
And some 27,000 sympathizers had contributed more than $950,000 to a legal defense fund. And the legal defense fund’s website listed 13 “Frequently Asked Questions,” with many of them suggesting contributing or sending him letters.
CNN also said it had contacted some of his supporters to learn how they felt, and why, and their responses focused on our health care system and the insurance companies.
“There’s a lot of sympathy for Luigi,” an unidentified supporter said. “Seems to be like he was mad at the health care system, like we all are. I obviously don’t think anyone should be murdered, and I don’t think that’s a way to solve the problem, but I sympathize with the idea that we can actually make that happen and just to use this moment to make that happen.”
Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk met a similar fate on a college campus in 2025. His crime against humanity: calmly and politely providing members of his audience a different side to their argument. But that was too much for his executioner to handle.
The Thompson and Kirk murders, and the ludicrously large amount of support for this sort of irrational violence should worry each of us. What has happened in our once logical and balanced culture to allow so many to believe the way to solve their problems is to murder people who do not agree with them?
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