Luigi Mangione sparked controversy last December when he gained notoriety for alleged involvement in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Once Mangione was announced as the main suspect, Social Media did the rest, spreading his face all over the internet, and declaring him an attractive assassin for the people. A modern Robin Hood of the Health Industry.
Posting their brand new Mangione tattoos, video edits and even fanfiction, supporters celebrated a perceived victory against a healthcare monopoly.
Meanwhile, Mangione detractors took to blog posts and YouTube comments with concerns, not just for morality but for order. Many were appalled at the jubilee, and worried that this could inspire more violence.
What drives this Mangione Mania?
Could it be a symptom of a bigger problem?
One rich kid from Baltimore allegedly murdering a CEO because of chronic back pain would not have sparked such a controversy if tensions surrounding healthcare weren’t already so high.
Governor of Pennsylvania Josh Shapiro, the state where Mangione was apprehended, addressed the controversy in a media interview.
“This is not what we do in a civilized society,” said Shapiro.
But is a society civilized if its citizens are suffering, dying, and unable to afford to pay for life saving care?
Counter arguments ask why Thompson’s murder is worthy of more sympathy than the genocide of indigenous Americans, or the victims in Gaza, or especially relevant, those dying because of the health care they have been denied?
Deny. Defend. Depose. The “Three D’s” of healthcare, a reported strategy, where services needed by the insured are delayed, denied, and finally defended in court. The unfortunate reality is most of those denied care can’t afford, or do not have the life expectancy to go to court.
Many have suggested a book “Delay, Deny, Defend” , a book by Legal Scholar Jay Feinman, influenced Mangione, as allegedly, written on shell casings at the crime scene where the words deny, delay, depose. The last word is notably different, suggesting the shooter may have believed the goal of the three D’s strategy was meant to end in the deaths of applicants.
While Mangione’s Good Read’s account was reportedly discovered by Social Media armchair investigators, which if true, screenshot show a well read individual
Feinman hasn’t been directly tied to being one of Mangione’s inspirations, but documentarian Michael Moore was, as well as author of An American Sickness, Elizabeth Rosenthal, both of whom were mentioned directly in Mangione’s handwritten manifesto as those who should be referenced when attempting to understand the corruption and greed of America’s healthcare system.
Moore wrote a response, in an article on MichaelMoore.com where he calls for a full overhaul of the healthcare system.
Also in Mangione’s manifesto, which was publicly released but is unavailable for reading online, states that he is “the first to face it [corruption and greed] with such brutal honesty,” and in this quote might be found the real basis for the mania.
Americans are tired of the lying politicians, the out of touch advertisements, and the large corporations dragging out insurance until people die. The happy faces on TV looking out while real American’s face homelessness and starvation is the stuff of dystopian novels.
