Mangione

Mangione Defense Fund Inexplicably Passes $150K

The bizarre celebration of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s murder continues this week as people all over the world donate money to Luigi Mangione, his alleged killer.

Police arrested Mangione in Pennsylvania on December 9, five days after a masked gunman shot and killed Thompson in Manhattan. The 26-year-old faces extradition to New York this week, where he is charged with 11 counts of first- and second-degree murder, murder as an act of terrorism, criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of a fake I.D.

A disturbingly large group of people have adopted Mangione as a populist hero — not in spite of his charges, but because of them. An independent online fund for Mangione’s defense has raised more than $157,000 as of December 19. The “December 4th Legal Committee” started a fundraiser last week, posting to X:

Luigi’s actions represent a fierce rejection of a system that profits massively yet doesn’t gaf [sic] about the American people. Our deaths, our pain, our cries for help are constantly silenced and ignored, as we work multiple jobs just to afford to live.
This isn’t about political parties. It’s about CLASS CONSCIOUSNESS. FREE LUIGI.

The group posts donor comments praising Mangione for mobilizing people against the asupposedly evil, oppressive insurance companies.

Let’s get one thing straight: You can’t logically denounce and defend violence in the same post. If you condemn murder, you must also condemn Thompson’s killer. If you support Thompson’s death, you support vigilante justice up to and including murder — and that’s a big mistake.

Abraham Lincoln articulated the dangers of mob rule during a surge of vigilante violence under President Andrew Jackson:

When men take it in their heads today to hang gamblers or burn murderers, they should recollect, that, in the confusion usually attending such transactions, they will be as likely to hang or burn someone who is neither a gambler nor a murderer as one who is; and that, acting upon the example they set, the mob of tomorrow may, and probably will, hang or burn some of them by the very same mistake.

The mob supporting Brian Thompson’s killer found Thompson posthumously guilty of murder. But Andrew Witty, the CEO of UnitedHealth Group and a colleague of Thompson’s, claims Thompson worked tirelessly to make the healthcare system better.

“We know the health system does not work as well as it should, and we understand people’s frustrations with it,” Witty began in a piece for The New York Times. “[But] while the health system is not perfect every corner of it is filled with people who try to do their best for those they serve. Brian was one of those people.”

Lincoln argues the death of innocent people is inevitable in a justice system controlled by vigilantes.

The innocent, those who have ever set their faces against violations of law in every shape, alike with the guilty, fall victims to the ravages of mob law; and thus it goes on, step by step, until all the walls erected for the defense of the persons and property of individuals are trodden down and disregarded.

Lincoln’s reasoning should be enough for every American to oppose vigilante violence. For Christians, it should be even easier.

In Matthew 5:39 (ESV), Jesus commands:

Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.

Oft misinterpreted to apply to governments or churches, Christian philosopher Arthur Holmes argued this command discourages individuals from seeking personal vengeance. “It means that, as an individual, I do not take the law into my own hands,” Holmes wrote.

Jesus demonstrated this personal restraint on the Cross, where He allowed His persecutors to put Him to death. Romans 3:23-25 tells us that His sacrifices covers the sin of anyone who believes:

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith.

Those who have received salvation for our sins should instinctively understand that everyone is vulnerable to vigilante violence; A madmen can fixate on any person’s sins just as easily as those of a CEO. But the people supporting Brian Thompson’s murder do not seem to grasp this idea. They consider themselves “good people” and cannot envision a world in which they would be in the same crosshairs.

This is unadulterated arrogance — the same kind that made Thompson’s killer feel justified to judge and execute another man in cold blood.

The proliferation of such pride in both cases will prove fatal.

Additional Articles and Resources

Luigi Mangione: Alleged Killer Apprehended With All-To-Familiar Manifesto

Lorenz Feels ‘Joy’ at UnitedHealthcare CEO’s Execution

Lorenz Feels ‘Joy’ at UnitedHealthcare CEO’s Execution

This is the second in a two-part series examining America’s reaction to the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Part 1 introduces the NYPD’s suspect and his alleged motives. Part 2  explores Americans‘ celebration of the violence.

Six days ago, a masked gunman shot UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson from behind, leaving him dead on a busy Manhattan street. Police believe the alleged killer, 26-year-old Luigi Mangione, viewed the murder as recompense for the corruption and abuse perpetrated by health insurance companies.

The killer could be dismissed as a lone terrorist if not for the public’s supportive reaction. A disturbing number of people have praised the murderer for his sense of humor, his looks, and the person he chose to target.

Taylor Lorenz, an ex-Washington Post journalist and known controversy magnet, has become the unofficial spokesperson for the shooter supporters. Immediately after the murder, she penned a piece titled, “Why ‘we’ want insurance executives dead.”

She elaborates:

No, that does not mean people should murder them. But if you’ve watched a loved one suffer and die from insurance denial, it’s normal to wish the people responsible would suffer the same fate.

I’ll admit, in my angriest moments, I have wished harm on my enemies. I have wished for aggressive drivers to get into fender benders. I have wished to kick a mean roommate or two. I dislike and repent of these thoughts, but acknowledge they occur.

But never have I ever wished for one of my enemies to die, watched them be executed in real time, and then celebrated their demise on the internet. If that’s normal, consign me to the loony bin.

And make no mistake, Lorenz and her compatriots are partying it up. Below is a short transcript of her interview with media personality Piers Morgan. She begins by describing her reaction to the murder:

Lorenz: I do believe in the sanctity of life, and I think that’s why I felt, along with so many other Americans, joy, you know, unfortunately, because…
Morgan: Joy? Seriously? Joy at a man’s execution?
Lorenz: I mean, maybe not joy, but certainly not empathy. Because, again, this is a man responsible for…
Morgan: How can this make you joyful? This guy is a husband, he’s a father, he’s been gunned down in the middle of Manhattan. How does that make you joyful?
Lorenz: So are tens of thousands of innocent Americans who died because greedy health insurance executives like this one push policies of denying care to the most vulnerable people. And I am one of the many millions of Americans who watch people that I care about suffer and in some cases die because of lack of healthcare.

Then Morgan asks the obvious question:

So should they all be killed, then? These healthcare executives? Would that make you even more joyful?

Lorenz looks taken aback before beginning to laugh. The interview continues:

Lorenz: Uh, no, that would not.
Morgan: Well, why not? Why are you laughing? A man’s been murdered in the street. I don’t find it funny at all.
Lorenz: I don’t find it funny that tens of thousands of Americans die every year because they are denied lifesaving healthcare from people like this CEO. Now, I want to fix this system. You’re right, we shouldn’t be going around shooting each other with vigilante justice, no. I think it is a good thing this murder has led to the media elites and politicians paying attention to this issue for the first time.

She concludes:

You mentioned that you couldn’t understand why someone would feel this reaction when you watch a CEO die. It’s because you have not dealt, it sounds like, with the American healthcare system in the way that millions of other Americans have.

Here, Lorenz assumes that everyone who experiences failures of the healthcare system experiences joy when insurance company CEOs die. In articulating this assumption, Lorenz not only presumes to speak on behalf of “millions of Americans,” but suggests they are comfortable with — and even support— the vigilante justice she half-heartedly denounces.  

But that’s the problem with giving citizens the authority to take life as they see fit — it’s always “just” until you’re on the business end of the gun.

Lorenz and X users frequently cite “millions of people” Thompson wronged as justification for his execution. One user commented:

No matter the shooter’s political views the act itself was not left, nor right. It was populist. Everyone, no matter your background, has a horror story with insurance. Whether it’s health, home or auto, they all make their money the same way. By f******* you. It’s quite possibly the most politically neutral assassination of all time.

But the number of people who (allegedly) want someone dead doesn’t justify extra-judicial executions. That’s just vigilante justice cosigned by a mob — and mobs are notoriously bad at rendering justice.

America’s Founding Fathers sought to inoculate America against such capricious judgements. The Fifth Amendment reads, in part:

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury … nor shall any person be … deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law.

In his first inaugural address, President Thomas Jefferson expanded on “this sacred principle:”

Though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression.

Brian Thompson’s murder is a sobering example of what happens when the Fifth Amendment fails. It’s a miscarriage of justice that no one should celebrate — if not for moral reasons, then for sheer self-preservation.

Celebrating vigilante justice makes it more likely to occur. No one is safe from a jury, judge and executioner with their own definition of justice. Please consider praying for Thompson’s family and for justice to be done in his case.

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Luigi Mangione: Alleged Killer Apprehended with All-Too-Familiar Manifesto

This is the first in a two-part series examining America’s reaction to the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Part 1 introduces the NYPD’s suspect and his alleged motives. Part 2 explores Americans‘ celebration of the violence.

New York police have charged 26-year-old Luigi Mangione with the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, five days after a masked gunman shot him to death on a Manhattan street.

Police arrested Mangione in Pennsylvania on Monday. The alleged killer was carrying a gun, a silencer, a fake ID matching the one the killer used to check into a New York hostel before the murder, and a handwritten manifesto mentioning UnitedHealthcare by name.

Mangione cut off contact with his friends and family in June, according to multiple sources, prompting his mother to file a missing person’s report in November. The young man’s background explains neither his mysterious disappearance nor his alleged capacity to commit murder. By most metrics, Mangione had everything going for him.

Born to a wealthy family, Mangione graduated valedictorian of his 2016 high school class at the prestigious and expensive Gilman School. He subsequently graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, according to The New York Times, with a bachelor’s and master’s degree in computer science.

Though social media posts indicate Mangione experienced debilitating back pain beginning in 2022, he underwent successful spinal surgery for the problem almost a year before he dropped off the map. On Reddit, Mangione claimed the procedure alleviated his pain almost immediately.

The three-page document Pennsylvania police discovered in Mangione’s backpack suggests the author, presumably Mangione himself, had developed a deep hatred for the American healthcare system.

After assuring the police he acted alone, the writer accuses UnitedHealthcare and other insurance companies of “abus[ing] our country for immense profit.” The writer claims such companies “get away with it” because “the American public has allowed them [to],” and declares himself the first to confront these “power games” with “such brutal honesty.”

“I do apologize for any strife or traumas but it had to be done,” The New York Post quotes the document. “Frankly, these parasites simply had it coming.”

Mangione’s social media activity carries little, if any, of the manifesto’s malice. It does, however, suggest Mangione identified with some anti-establishment ideas.

In April, he quoted Aldous Huxley’s famed critique of capitalism, Brave New World, on X. On Goodreads, a website where readers share and review books, he quoted “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski’s manifesto.

Imagine a society that subject people to conditions that make them terribly unhappy then gives them the drugs to take away their unhappiness.

Mangione further praised Kaczynski’s ramblings in a Goodreads review.

It’s easy to quickly and thoughtlessly write this off as the manifesto of a lunatic in order to avoid facing some of the uncomfortable problems it identifies. But it’s simply impossible to ignore how prescient many of his prediction about modern society turned out.

Mangione’s motive for allegedly killing Thompson might be opaque, but the manifesto’s justification for murder should sound familiar.

It’s all about helping the oppressed overthrow the oppressors.

This is the same worldview that drove America’s descent into antisemitism. When Hamas killed more than 1,200 Israeli civilians on October 7, 2023, student groups at elite schools like Columbia and Harvard justified the massacre by deeming Israel “the oppressor” and the terror group “the oppressed.”

This narrative prompted activist and student groups to make supportive graphics and chants referencing the parachutes Hamas soldiers used to gun down civilians across the Israeli border. It allowed journalists, activists and professors to justify Hamas’ actions as “decolonization.”

It also enflamed the prosecution of Daniel Penny. Penny faced criminal charges after he restrained Jordan Neely, a violent passenger on a New York subway car, contributing to his death. Neely, who was intoxicated and suffered from schizophrenia, had been threatening to kill other passengers.

Many characterized Penny’s actions as those of a white oppressor against an oppressed black man. When a jury acquitted Penny of criminally negligent homicide on Monday, Black Lives Matter activist Hawk Newsome opined:

What we preach is unity. Black unity. … Just like everybody else seeks justice on their own, just like everyone else has vigilantes, we need some black vigilantes. People want to jump up and chose us and kill us for being loud, how about we do the same when they attempt to oppress us.

Here, Newsome endorses violence against white people as the justified retribution of oppressed black people.

One of the myriad problems with this ideology is its lack of moral absolutes; The morality of violence depends solely on whether the person being hurt is an “oppressor” or someone being “oppressed.”

The assassination of Brian Thompson is the logical product of this ethos. Thompson’s life depended on one person’s unilateral assessment of his role in society. The killer felt morally entitled to carry out a death sentence one he had identified Thompson as a “parasite.”

It’s easy to dismiss Thompson’s murder as the actions of an unhinged idealogue, rather than a reflection on popular perceptions of morality and justice. If that were true, the internet wouldn’t have erupted in praise of the gunman.

More on the morally-bankrupt celebration of murder in Part 2.

Additional Articles and Resources

A Year’s Slide into Antisemitism, Examined

Manhood is on Trial in the Daniel Penny Case

Indoctrination Station: New York State Education Department Pushes Critical Theory on Students