Who Is Luigi Mangione? (2025) Movie Script
Hi, I'm Brian Thompson,
CEO of UnitedHealthcare.
He could have done a lot of good
in this world.
Talented. Very bright.
I knew Brian.
Tragic.
And he was taken way too soon.
Luigi Nicholas Mangione.
He was brilliant.
Valedictorian and well liked.
He suffers a life-changing injury
during a surfing accident.
And it seems he has an enemy
in his crosshairs
and it is the insurance industry.
And on the morning
of December 4th,
based on everything we know
from law enforcement,
it seems the paths
of these two former valedictorians
were about to cross.
Earlier this morning, members
of the Altoona Police Department
arrested Luigi Mangione
in the brazen targeted murder
of Brian Thompson.
As soon as he was arrested,
Luigi Mangione became a hero to many.
Young women are writing him letters
and throwing him kisses.
Guilty or not guilty?
Not guilty.
Of course, the question now becomes,
"Who is Luigi Mangione?"
At 6:45 in the morning there are not
a lot of people in Midtown,
so it leaves an opportunity
for someone
to spot someone pretty easily.
Somebody that runs
a multi-billion dollar corporation
and no-one's protecting him.
I think that
is just the biggest mistake I've seen
in the corporate security world.
Good morning, everyone.
In Midtown Manhattan,
early this morning,
50-year-old Brian Thompson,
the CEO of UnitedHealthcare,
was shot and killed in what appears,
at this early stage
of our investigation,
to be a brazen, targeted attack.
The flags outside UnitedHealthcare
in Minnetonka
are at half staff today,
as the health care insurance giant
mourns the death
of one of their own.
I call them
the Leave It To Beaver family.
They were always walking in dressed,
dressed nicely.
Good-looking family.
A family I envied, you know,
and hoped and idolized
because they were
just wonderful people.
So outrageous that a businessman
would be gunned down in the street.
I haven't seen anything like that.
Was it a personal vendetta?
Would it be a mob hit?
Did he owe people money?
Once the news broke
that the killer had inscribed
those bullet shell casings
with a Magic Marker with the words
"delay, deny, depose,"
that really narrowed down the motive.
They're the mantra of the insurance
industry for how you make money.
Deny the claims, defend them,
depose anybody who tries
to continue their claim against you.
So, once we knew that,
it was clear this person
was a mission-oriented killer.
We wanna begin with
the intense search for the gunman.
A gunman is still on the loose.
A shocking murder
getting national attention tonight.
We have upped the reward
up to $10,000 for information.
We'd gotten to a point where we felt
that we needed the public's help
and that's why we released
the photograph and the video.
We have him from the shooting scene,
fleeing back uptown.
We had him in a taxicab.
We also had a clear vision
of his face
at the hostel where he was staying.
Those two clear photos of his face
were what alerted
the customers and employees
at that McDonald's
in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
The minute that they saw him in
the corner, eating his hash browns,
they called the police.
Earlier this morning
in Altoona, Pennsylvania,
members of
the Altoona Police Department
arrested Luigi Mangione,
a 26-year-old male.
We've recovered five fingerprints
that match our suspect
from the water bottle
that was recovered.
We have two fingerprints
from an energy bar wrapper.
The same fraudulent
New Jersey driver's license
that he presented as identification
at the hospital
was the same identification
that he presented
to the Altoona police officer
at that McDonald's.
As Luigi Mangione is being led
into the courthouse
for his first appearance,
it's almost like
his world crumbles in front of us.
It's completely out of touch and
it's an insult to the intelligence
of the American people
and its lived experience!
He's shouting and he's angry.
We, for the first time,
see raw emotion on his face.
- Luigi Mangione.
- Luigi Mangione.
Luigi Mangione.
Of course, the question is,
who is this guy?
OK, whenever you guys are ready. OK.
We are on High Street, which is
the restaurant row of Little Italy.
You leave Little Italy,
but Little Italy never leaves you.
The Mangione family.
What more can I say?
I've known the family
for at least 50 years.
They are probably
one of the most respected,
if not the most respected, family
in the Italian community.
What a good-looking family.
I don't know about
this whole situation here.
It doesn't make sense.
There's something wrong here.
They've got a big house
on the golf course.
All right, speeding.
I'm very close to his mom's side.
They're from the same neighborhood
that we are.
Just, he looked like a Mangione.
Bright and cheerful and smiley
and you knew who he was right away.
Shook my head.
This can't be happening.
They were generous with their money.
They've given a lot to churches...
...more than one hospital, GBMC.
They would just do it
without expecting anything back.
They are the epitome
of the American dream.
He is born
into this life of privilege.
Going back
through his Reddit postings,
he seems to feel a little bit guilty
about it.
I remember one time,
as a young child,
playing with friends, fantasizing.
We each sketched
our ideal dream home.
Everyone else
drew intricate mansions.
I sketched the floor plan
of a small square house.
They thought I was weird.
I thought their mansions
were full of lots of bullshit.
Clearly, one of the best clues
that we're going to have
about the psychology
and background of Luigi Mangione
is his social media.
I contracted Lyme when I was 13
and started noticing mild
cognitive declines when I was 15.
My symptoms
were very minor at first.
I was able to excel
in high school.
He went to high school
at the Gilman High School
and that is top-notch school
and, obviously, he was brilliant.
Luigi Nicholas Mangione.
And well-liked
and an honor student, valedictorian.
The class of 2016 is truly defined
by its inventive,
pioneering mentality
that accompanies a strong commitment
to Gilman tradition.
Throughout its time at Gilman,
the class of 2016 has been coming up
with new ideas
and challenging the world around it.
To achieve what he did in such
a prestigious school that he went to
was a great accomplishment.
I was... We were all so proud of him.
We were all so proud of him.
As I conclude my speech,
I have to remember
that a valedictory, by definition,
is a farewell.
It's been an incredible journey
and I simply can't imagine
the last few years
with any other group of guys.
Thank you.
Thank you. Great job. Very well done.
And he also had enough smarts
to get into
the University of Pennsylvania.
It's like, you don't have to brag
when that happens.
It speaks for itself.
I'm an undergraduate pursuing
a degree in computer science
and am very interested
in bioinformatics.
I knew he was headed toward
engineering, he was good in math.
Both his parents are so smart.
Both college graduates.
We know from his writings that,
even during college,
he still struggled with maladies
and pain and sleeplessness.
Basically, I'm in bed
for eight hours every night
and I wake up unrefreshed,
no matter how much sleep I get.
Imagine that in your early 20s,
no matter how much money you have,
suddenly, you're experiencing
a lapse in brain cognition.
He refers to a brain fog.
The symptoms worsened exponentially
last year
after my fraternity's
very tame Hell Week.
I simply wasn't able to recover
from a week of disturbed sleep.
It's absolutely brutal
to have such a life-halting issue,
especially since the issue itself
wears down the critical,
logical, thinking mind
you'd usually use to tackle it.
I used to play chess daily
against my roommate.
I used it as a metric to see
how the brain fog was improving.
Eventually I just stopped,
since I could never remember
any strategy.
He would use the same moves
against me day after day
and I just wouldn't
remember them.
The brain fog becomes almost
an obsession with Luigi Mangione
because it's something
that he can't overcome,
no matter how wealthy he is.
The people around you probably
won't understand your symptoms.
They certainly don't for me.
As each test comes back negative,
the doctors won't have
a ------- clue what's going on.
I don't know what happened.
There was some type of a change.
Something happened to his mind.
A person possibly shot
in front of the Hilton Hotel.
In criminology, we very often
conduct, after a horrific crime...
...what we call a psychological,
or reverse, autopsy.
We try to reconstruct the psychology
of our suspect working backwards,
so that we understand
the trajectory of events.
I met Luigi...
It was the latter part of 2022.
And mark.
My name's Dorian Wright
and I am a yoga instructor
and a studio owner.
He was just a normal, happy-go-lucky
kind of 26-year-old guy.
I don't know what would motivate
someone like that
to do something like that.
So, I created a co-living space
in Honolulu during COVID
and he applied to be a member.
He was excited to move to Hawaii.
He wanted to focus on his health and
he was looking to make new friends.
It's incomprehensible that the person
I knew and was friends with
could assassinate somebody.
When I looked at Luigi, I didn't see
anything out of the ordinary.
He was quite tall and very fit.
Every time he walked in, yeah,
all the women would look at him.
So, yeah, he was a head-turner
for the women
and even one of our teachers
matched with him on Tinder.
It appears he suffers a life-changing
injury during a surfing accident
that caused him
a severe back injury
and that's what may have put him
on his path.
Started when
I first aggravated my spondy
one and a half years ago
after surfing.
Yeah, spondy is a bony defect
in the back part of the spine.
This piece of bone in the back
that's normally attached to the spine
is not attached to the spine.
My back and hips locked up
after the accident
and my whole lumbar hips
have been out of whack since.
Bladder and genital pain
for the last year, on and off.
Luigi is typical
of every patient in my practice.
You're bounced around
the medical system,
nobody tells you what is going on.
Repeatedly dashing hope
induces depression.
It was completely devastating
as a young, athletic person.
Seemingly all I could read
on the Internet
was that I was destined
to chronic pain and a desk job
for the rest of my life.
It was one of those
interesting injuries
where one day
he could perhaps be athletic
and do something and the next day
just immobile and stuck in bed.
I knew he had to go home, back
to the East Coast, for a surgery.
I had surgery two weeks ago
because I had nerve issues.
He sent me some images
of his X-rays post-surgery
that just make you cringe.
Three-, four-inch screws
into somebody's spine.
Surgery was painful
for the first couple of days,
but I was shocked
that by day seven
I was on literally
zero pain meds.
Obviously, it will be a while
until I get into rigorous activity,
but it was way less a big deal
than I had anticipated.
In his Reddit discussions
about his own back surgery,
someone else responds and immediately
Luigi starts to coach this person
on how to get the surgery done.
Keep trying different surgeons.
Tell them you are unable
to work/do your job.
We live in a capitalist society.
I found that the medical industry
responds to these key words
far more urgently than
you describing unbearable pain
and how it's impacting
your quality of life.
This is the first time in this
back and forth about the back surgery
where Luigi states in social media,
"We live in a capitalistic society."
And it's a condemnation.
After his surgery, Luigi seems to go
on a pilgrimage, if you will, to Asia
and enjoy and embrace
a persona of the backpacker.
In high school I was fascinated
with the idea of living
out of a tin can.
Well, not "living" that way, but
being able to survive in the wild
using nothing more
than a survival kit
small enough
to fit in an Altoids can.
And it's a good reminder that
we're able to go long periods
without needing many things.
Remember, he has always had
every advantage,
but now he wants to see
how little he can live on.
I suppose I've always been
hyper-obsessed with efficiency
and I've never been materialistic.
Those traits have persisted
into adulthood.
They are why I became an engineer.
In early 2024
Luigi Mangione pops up again
and this time with a review
on Goodreads
of the Ted Kaczynski manifesto.
Ted Kaczynski
was known as the Unabomber,
who had created fear for years
by sending packages
that had bombs in them
to various people that he thought
were part of the societal problem.
Luigi wrote a very positive review
of the Kaczynski manifesto.
It's easy to quickly
and thoughtless write this off
as the manifesto of a lunatic
in order to avoid facing
some of the uncomfortable problems
it identifies.
He was a violent individual,
rightfully imprisoned,
who maimed innocent people.
While these actions
tend to be characterized
as those of a crazy Luddite,
however,
they are more accurately seen
as those of an extreme
political revolutionary.
Some people are gonna say,
"Why are you even amplifying
this guy's views?"
From a law enforcement perspective,
they're going to wanna know
as much as they can
about the alleged killer,
including why he may have done it.
A take I found online
that I think is interesting.
"Peaceful protest
is outright ignored.
"Economic protest isn't possible
in the current system,
so how long until we recognize
that violence against those
who lead us to destruction
is justified as self-defense?
"'Violence never solved anything'
is a statement uttered
by cowards and predators."
It will be just ten months
from the time of that review
that he gets a gun
and allegedly takes action.
Luigi reached out to me via email.
He was in Japan at the time
and he said he was
a long-time fan of my work.
So, one of the articles
that most resonated with Luigi
was an article that I'd written
called Why Everything
Is Becoming A Game,
in order to addict people to them.
He had bought a $200
founding membership to my blog.
So, in May we had a video call.
I remember that,
as soon as I saw him,
he gave me a big smile
and he was very enthusiastic.
He described Japanese culture
as a peak NPC-ville.
NPC isa meme online
which means Non-Player Character
and it's a term that's been borrowed
from Dungeons and Dragons.
It refers to characters
in fictional worlds
that are not controlled by players
but are controlled
by a computer program
or by the Dungeon Master.
He believed people were
increasingly living automated lives.
It was a big concern of his.
I got the sense that maybe
he felt the lack of social connection
himself,
that the people around him were not
on the same wavelength as him.
I followed up March, April, May.
Each month, just a text message
checking in,
"Hey, bro, how you doing?
What's going on?"
and didn't hear from him.
He didn't interact with
any of my writing after June 10th,
so it was the last time.
He seems to have not interacted
with, really, anybody else.
He seemed to have gone dark, mostly,
after that period.
Six months,
no-one had heard from him.
His friends, his family, his parents.
He isolated himself and there was
no-one there to guide him.
And then, you know,
your mind goes off.
In his valedictorian speech,
he thanks the parents.
Thank you for all the time and love
you put into our lives.
You instilled values in us,
fed and clothed us
and simply been there for us
every step of the way.
So, fast forward
to the age of 25, 26.
He's not communicating with
his parents, he's shut them out.
Perhaps, in his mind,
his family had become the enemy
because they were capitalists,
they were incredibly wealthy.
Cutting off communication
with his parents was the only way
to keep these magical ideas
in full float in his brain.
His parents would have been
a reality check.
The shooter's mother had reported him
missing in San Francisco
back on November 18th of 2024.
In my view, the fact that even
his mother didn't know where he was
would seem to indicate
he really had made a big decision
to prepare for this incident.
To the Feds.
I'll keep this short
because I do respect
what you do for our country.
Police say he even laid out his plans
in a short letter to the Feds
and a spiral notebook,
both of which were found on him
at the time he was arrested.
The details
are finally coming together.
I'm glad, in a way,
that I've procrastinated
because it allowed me
to learn more about UHC.
The target is insurance.
It checks every box.
It's not necessarily easy
to know exactly where
a CEO will be at a particular time.
The fact that this conference
was on the Internet
with the dates and the times
allowed him to plot this in exactly
the way that he had wanted.
This investor conference is a true
windfall and, most importantly,
the message becomes self-evident.
Seemingly appreciating
that they are letting him know
exactly where
Brian Thompson's going to be.
When I first heard the news,
I was in disbelief.
Couldn't be the same Brian Thompson,
it just couldn't be.
I remember him as a cute little kid.
I'm very good friends
with his mother Pat.
It's a heart-break.
We are fortunate enough
to know him so well
that the memories we have of him
are very joyful.
He was very talented,
a very bright individual.
Funny, had a sense of humor.
Enjoyed life.
We have what's called
Watermelon Day,
our annual celebration
where we serve free watermelon.
We have a parade in the morning.
His mom was known as the Ticket Lady,
so the Thompsons were well known
for Watermelon Day.
Brian Thompson
was also a valedictorian.
He was also an overachiever.
One of his classmates
and his best friend said,
"He's probably the smartest kid
in our class
and the smartest kid
I've ever known."
He went to University of Iowa,
did very well
in the business classes.
It's not easy,
coming from a small town.
I kind of knew
he was bound for great things.
And ultimately made his way
to becoming the CEO
of a major healthcare division.
Hi, I'm Brian Thompson,
CEO of UnitedHealthCare.
Brian Thompson
did climb the corporate ladder
very successfully
and relatively quickly at United.
Wendell interview take one. Mark.
I was in the industry for 20 years
and I'm not
the industry's favorite person.
I think as we look over the long term
of this three-year period...
Brian Thompson helped that company
become very, very profitable
and to be a Wall Street darling
for much of his tenure.
United is the largest company
in the US by market cap,
behind only Apple, Google, Walmart.
It has grown and grown,
but has our life expectancy? No.
We have no indication that he was
ever a client of UnitedHealthcare,
but he does mention that it is the
fifth largest corporation in America.
That's possibly why
he targeted that company.
Once a year, the executives go
to New York City.
They stage this half-day program.
It's kind of like a dog and pony show
in which the executives
tell investors,
"This is what our plans are
for profitable growth."
In the simplest sense,
we're helping to accelerate
the transition from volume to value.
Just curious in terms of how
that drives your thinking on growth.
Great question, Scott.
Brian, if you might like to start.
And Brian Thompson was always
very accomplished, very well spoken,
very adept
at answering their questions.
Certainly from this vantage point,
I feel good about the benefits
we've put in the marketplace,
the pricing, et cetera, so I feel
good about where we're positioned.
During the time that Brian Thompson
was CEO of UnitedHealthcare,
a study of companies
and their denial rates
showed that UnitedHealthcare
was at the top, if not the top,
in terms of refusing
or denying coverage
for treatments that patients needed
and it's an example
of what that company, in particular,
has been doing to satisfy
Wall Street's profit expectation.
More than 150 people
protested at
UnitedHealthcare headquarters today.
Nearly a dozen left in handcuffs.
The organizers want United
to stop denying claims.
I am a United Healthcare Medicare
disadvantaged member.
I needed a surgery in January,
a hysterectomy.
And roughly two days
before the scheduled surgery,
I received a denial
from UnitedHealthcare.
I was informed that
the reason for the denial
was that the surgery was perceived
as not medically necessary.
It was infuriating,
it was frustrating.
We're making it easier
for customers and consumers
to get the most
out of their benefits.
And I was, frankly, at a loss.
I didn't see a way forward.
My surgeon did fight for me, though.
I was able to have it as scheduled,
but I did not know
until the day before.
United wouldn't do what they did
if there were consequences
for their behavior.
We want the system
to work better for everyone.
The subtext of that,
of what he was saying is that,
yeah, it would be great
if they could figure out
how to make the system work
for all the stakeholders.
It's just simply not possible
because if you are making the system
work better and more smoothly
for people enrolled
in your health plans,
that means there's not as much money
left over to reward shareholders.
At the time, there were reports
that Brian Thompson
was under investigation
for possible insider trading.
He, reportedly,
is one of the executives,
there are several, that did
share sales two weeks before
it was revealed that
there was an antitrust investigation
launched by the DOJ into the company.
He and multiple
other UnitedHealth executives
are accused of offloading something
like 15 million shares of stock
before the probe was announced.
Of course, once that investigation
by the DOJ was announced,
the stock then plummeted.
The reality is these mafioso
have simply gotten too powerful
and they continue to abuse
our country for immense profit
because the American public has
allowed them to get away with it.
He refers to healthcare companies
as the mafioso.
He is clearly...
...writing this
for public consumption.
So, Luigi Mangione
seems to go on a mission.
He has an enemy in his crosshairs
and it is the insurance industry.
And on the morning of December 4th,
based on everything we know
from law enforcement,
it seems the paths
of these two former valedictorians...
...were about to cross.
I do apologize for any strife
or traumas, but it had to be done.
Frankly, these parasites
had it coming.
We know that when
he first arrived in New York City
at the end of November,
he visited that hotel.
He definitely was casing the area.
The morning of the incident itself,
we know that he was at the hotel
an hour prior.
As of right now,
we think he acted alone.
To save you a lengthy investigation,
I state plainly that
I wasn't working with anyone.
You can check serial numbers to
verify this is all self-funded.
My own ATM withdrawals.
He had over $5,000 worth of cash
on him in $100 bills.
He paid everything in cash.
This was fairly trivial.
Some elementary social engineering,
basic CAD, a lot of patience.
CAD, which is
Computer Aided Design software,
to get a 3D ghost gun printed.
It's a semi-automatic pistol.
It had a suppressor on it
that was also built on a 3D printer.
Every time he fired,
the gun would jam,
so he would have to clear
the malfunction to shoot again.
The recovered shell casings that
we had at the scene matched that gun.
My tech is pretty locked down
because I work in engineering,
so probably not much info there.
He also discusses the contrast
on whether or not using a bomb
to make his statement
or to just kill the CEO by himself.
He states that if he used a bomb,
that potentially he might hurt
some innocent people
and that would take away
from his message.
Obviously, the problem
is more complex,
but I do not have space
and, frankly, I do not pretend
to be the most qualified person
to lay out the full argument.
But many have illuminated
the corruption and greed,
for example, Rosenthal, Moore.
Rosenthal is a New York Times writer
who has written extensively
about the maladies
of the insurance industry.
Michael Moore, the very famous
documentary maker,
with his documentary Sicko.
The intent is to maximize profits.
You denied more people healthcare,
you got a bonus.
When you don't spend money
on somebody,
it's a savings to the company.
It's not an issue of awareness
at this point,
but clearly power games at play.
Evidently, I am the first to face it
with such brutal honesty.
There seems to be
a tremendous amount of narcissism
going on with Luigi Mangione.
You know, "Here I am, I am so smart.
I did this for a reason.
"It had to be done
and I am the only person smart enough
and brave enough to do it."
I think some people forget
how cold-blooded this was.
This is a guy
who was shot in the back.
One might have expected
this accused murderer
wanted to say something to
Brian Thompson before killing him.
You know, "You dirty rat. You...
"You're responsible for the deaths
of millions," et cetera.
But he didn't do that.
It's the lone wolf theory.
That's what we fear the most,
is the lone wolf,
where he doesn't tell anybody
what he's doing,
he travels by himself,
he keeps a very low profile
and he tracks down his prey
and does his thing.
Luigi Mangione,
the man accused of killing
UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson,
is now in New York City after waiving
extradition from Pennsylvania.
Several police officers
and even the mayor of New York,
Eric Adams, accompanied Mangione.
We're seeing the radicalization
of our young people.
We're seeing
our young people believing
that the answer to a problem
is by using violence.
I think it is the wrong way to go.
Mangione is facing several charges,
including first degree murder
and furtherance of terrorism
and unlawful possession
of a ghost gun.
Charging the crime
of murder in the first degree
and other related charges.
How do you plead to this indictment,
sir? Guilty or not guilty?
He leans into the microphone
to say the words clearly...
Not guilty.
..."Not guilty,"
with a level of confidence.
Just... He's unperturbed
by the whole process,
like, "This is beneath me."
"Sorry, I have to show up
and go through all of this.
"But time will tell.
You will see this was necessary."
I'm very concerned about my client's
right to a fair trial in this case.
He's being prejudiced
by some statements
that are being made
by government officials.
He's a young man
and he is being treated
like a human ping pong ball,
like some sort of political fodder,
like some sort of spectacle.
He was on display
for everyone to see
in the biggest staged perp walk
I've ever seen in my career.
It was absolutely unnecessary.
This has to stop and
we're gonna fight these charges,
whether it's in state or federal,
to the fullest extent.
Thank you, Your Honor.
It sure seems to me his defense
is not going to be, "I didn't do it."
He could try insanity,
but I don't think he's going to.
I think he would refuse.
That would undermine
his entire cause.
But as a practical matter,
the defense is likely gonna focus
all on jury selection,
trying to find people
who will sympathize,
or at least understand,
why Luigi Mangione allegedly did
what he did.
Free Luigi! Free Luigi!
Reaction to Thompson's death
has been swift
from people across the state
and country.
I knew Brian. Tragic.
Brian was a wonderful person,
with a big heart
and who lived life to the fullest.
Our hearts are broken and we are
completely devastated by this news.
He touched so many lives.
I just want people to know
that this was a young boy
who worked hard to be successful.
He could've done
a lot of good in this world
and he was taken way too soon.
But Brian Thompson became
completely forgotten, as a person.
He became the representative
for the healthcare industry
that deserved to die.
Luigi Mangione dropped...
Yeah.
Luigi Mangione
got a stunning amount of support.
Luigi Mangione,
the suspect in the shooting
of the CEO of UnitedHealthcare,
has become the hottest
cold-blooded killer in America.
I'm not sure what this says about us.
Luigi Mangione was being treated
as some sort of hero.
From what I know now,
I'd say, yes, he is.
- We'll see what the end outcome is.
- You really think--
- Absolutely.
- Accused of murder, he's a hero.
Absolutely.
I host a call-in radio show
and when I talked about the fact
that it is abhorrent that
people are trying to defend him,
almost every caller called in
to yell at me.
Well, what I got is, I guess
you guys just missed the real news
and the fact that there's
tens of thousands of people
that are dying every year
because of the damn greed.
It's gonna happen even more.
I guarantee you won't find
a unanimous jury
to convict this guy. Why?
He doesn't ------- deserve it.
I think it is shameful
to somehow blame Brian Thompson
for his own murder.
People wanted somebody to scapegoat.
They found it in Brian Thompson
because he was the CEO
of the largest
health insurance company in the US.
And so they naturally saw
a young man like Luigi,
who's a very handsome guy,
he's very charismatic.
He allegedly committed his crime
in a very spectacular way.
Of course there were gonna be people
who would see him as a folk hero.
It was immediately clear to me
why someone might have wanted
to kill this guy.
The December 4th Legal Committee
wanted to give a voice
to all the people
and the anger that they felt.
One $20 donor writes,
"NYPD officer here.
"We're rooting for you
behind the scenes"
and then describes a loved one
who passed away
after insurance claims were denied.
One doctor who donated says, quote,
"I applaud Luigi
for his courage, heart and passion."
A nurse who donated $100
calls Luigi a soldier of the people.
"If anyone deserves a badge of honor,
it is you."
I don't think it's possible
to be the CEO of
a for-profit health insurance company
and not have blood on your hands.
I understand
the cord that was struck.
Just hearing the difficulties
that others had
prompted me to share.
The part about me not feeling sad
is thinking about the role
and the position and what that did.
I know that the CEO is not the person
who looks at, you know,
individual claims
and yet there's policy there
that had significant consequences
for the lives of thousands
of people and their families.
Sometimes we talk about
the Robin Hood Syndrome.
This is off the charts.
Free Luigi! Free Luigi!
People are donating
to his defense fund,
even though he doesn't need money.
Young women are writing him letters
and throwing him kisses.
They're trying to make him a hero.
No-one is a hero
that has to use this kind of means
to get a point across.
The thing is, people aren't talking
about the US healthcare system.
People are talking about Luigi.
He's become a meme.
People are focusing on Luigi.
Although he had
this hatred of posturing,
it does feel like
an act of posturing.
By killing, allegedly, again...
By allegedly killing Brian Thompson,
he's not going to fix
the healthcare system in the US.
It's just not gonna happen.
I think he was intelligent
and he was somebody
who genuinely wanted to help people
and so it's just a great waste.
Nothing good has come of this.
CEO of UnitedHealthcare.
He could have done a lot of good
in this world.
Talented. Very bright.
I knew Brian.
Tragic.
And he was taken way too soon.
Luigi Nicholas Mangione.
He was brilliant.
Valedictorian and well liked.
He suffers a life-changing injury
during a surfing accident.
And it seems he has an enemy
in his crosshairs
and it is the insurance industry.
And on the morning
of December 4th,
based on everything we know
from law enforcement,
it seems the paths
of these two former valedictorians
were about to cross.
Earlier this morning, members
of the Altoona Police Department
arrested Luigi Mangione
in the brazen targeted murder
of Brian Thompson.
As soon as he was arrested,
Luigi Mangione became a hero to many.
Young women are writing him letters
and throwing him kisses.
Guilty or not guilty?
Not guilty.
Of course, the question now becomes,
"Who is Luigi Mangione?"
At 6:45 in the morning there are not
a lot of people in Midtown,
so it leaves an opportunity
for someone
to spot someone pretty easily.
Somebody that runs
a multi-billion dollar corporation
and no-one's protecting him.
I think that
is just the biggest mistake I've seen
in the corporate security world.
Good morning, everyone.
In Midtown Manhattan,
early this morning,
50-year-old Brian Thompson,
the CEO of UnitedHealthcare,
was shot and killed in what appears,
at this early stage
of our investigation,
to be a brazen, targeted attack.
The flags outside UnitedHealthcare
in Minnetonka
are at half staff today,
as the health care insurance giant
mourns the death
of one of their own.
I call them
the Leave It To Beaver family.
They were always walking in dressed,
dressed nicely.
Good-looking family.
A family I envied, you know,
and hoped and idolized
because they were
just wonderful people.
So outrageous that a businessman
would be gunned down in the street.
I haven't seen anything like that.
Was it a personal vendetta?
Would it be a mob hit?
Did he owe people money?
Once the news broke
that the killer had inscribed
those bullet shell casings
with a Magic Marker with the words
"delay, deny, depose,"
that really narrowed down the motive.
They're the mantra of the insurance
industry for how you make money.
Deny the claims, defend them,
depose anybody who tries
to continue their claim against you.
So, once we knew that,
it was clear this person
was a mission-oriented killer.
We wanna begin with
the intense search for the gunman.
A gunman is still on the loose.
A shocking murder
getting national attention tonight.
We have upped the reward
up to $10,000 for information.
We'd gotten to a point where we felt
that we needed the public's help
and that's why we released
the photograph and the video.
We have him from the shooting scene,
fleeing back uptown.
We had him in a taxicab.
We also had a clear vision
of his face
at the hostel where he was staying.
Those two clear photos of his face
were what alerted
the customers and employees
at that McDonald's
in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
The minute that they saw him in
the corner, eating his hash browns,
they called the police.
Earlier this morning
in Altoona, Pennsylvania,
members of
the Altoona Police Department
arrested Luigi Mangione,
a 26-year-old male.
We've recovered five fingerprints
that match our suspect
from the water bottle
that was recovered.
We have two fingerprints
from an energy bar wrapper.
The same fraudulent
New Jersey driver's license
that he presented as identification
at the hospital
was the same identification
that he presented
to the Altoona police officer
at that McDonald's.
As Luigi Mangione is being led
into the courthouse
for his first appearance,
it's almost like
his world crumbles in front of us.
It's completely out of touch and
it's an insult to the intelligence
of the American people
and its lived experience!
He's shouting and he's angry.
We, for the first time,
see raw emotion on his face.
- Luigi Mangione.
- Luigi Mangione.
Luigi Mangione.
Of course, the question is,
who is this guy?
OK, whenever you guys are ready. OK.
We are on High Street, which is
the restaurant row of Little Italy.
You leave Little Italy,
but Little Italy never leaves you.
The Mangione family.
What more can I say?
I've known the family
for at least 50 years.
They are probably
one of the most respected,
if not the most respected, family
in the Italian community.
What a good-looking family.
I don't know about
this whole situation here.
It doesn't make sense.
There's something wrong here.
They've got a big house
on the golf course.
All right, speeding.
I'm very close to his mom's side.
They're from the same neighborhood
that we are.
Just, he looked like a Mangione.
Bright and cheerful and smiley
and you knew who he was right away.
Shook my head.
This can't be happening.
They were generous with their money.
They've given a lot to churches...
...more than one hospital, GBMC.
They would just do it
without expecting anything back.
They are the epitome
of the American dream.
He is born
into this life of privilege.
Going back
through his Reddit postings,
he seems to feel a little bit guilty
about it.
I remember one time,
as a young child,
playing with friends, fantasizing.
We each sketched
our ideal dream home.
Everyone else
drew intricate mansions.
I sketched the floor plan
of a small square house.
They thought I was weird.
I thought their mansions
were full of lots of bullshit.
Clearly, one of the best clues
that we're going to have
about the psychology
and background of Luigi Mangione
is his social media.
I contracted Lyme when I was 13
and started noticing mild
cognitive declines when I was 15.
My symptoms
were very minor at first.
I was able to excel
in high school.
He went to high school
at the Gilman High School
and that is top-notch school
and, obviously, he was brilliant.
Luigi Nicholas Mangione.
And well-liked
and an honor student, valedictorian.
The class of 2016 is truly defined
by its inventive,
pioneering mentality
that accompanies a strong commitment
to Gilman tradition.
Throughout its time at Gilman,
the class of 2016 has been coming up
with new ideas
and challenging the world around it.
To achieve what he did in such
a prestigious school that he went to
was a great accomplishment.
I was... We were all so proud of him.
We were all so proud of him.
As I conclude my speech,
I have to remember
that a valedictory, by definition,
is a farewell.
It's been an incredible journey
and I simply can't imagine
the last few years
with any other group of guys.
Thank you.
Thank you. Great job. Very well done.
And he also had enough smarts
to get into
the University of Pennsylvania.
It's like, you don't have to brag
when that happens.
It speaks for itself.
I'm an undergraduate pursuing
a degree in computer science
and am very interested
in bioinformatics.
I knew he was headed toward
engineering, he was good in math.
Both his parents are so smart.
Both college graduates.
We know from his writings that,
even during college,
he still struggled with maladies
and pain and sleeplessness.
Basically, I'm in bed
for eight hours every night
and I wake up unrefreshed,
no matter how much sleep I get.
Imagine that in your early 20s,
no matter how much money you have,
suddenly, you're experiencing
a lapse in brain cognition.
He refers to a brain fog.
The symptoms worsened exponentially
last year
after my fraternity's
very tame Hell Week.
I simply wasn't able to recover
from a week of disturbed sleep.
It's absolutely brutal
to have such a life-halting issue,
especially since the issue itself
wears down the critical,
logical, thinking mind
you'd usually use to tackle it.
I used to play chess daily
against my roommate.
I used it as a metric to see
how the brain fog was improving.
Eventually I just stopped,
since I could never remember
any strategy.
He would use the same moves
against me day after day
and I just wouldn't
remember them.
The brain fog becomes almost
an obsession with Luigi Mangione
because it's something
that he can't overcome,
no matter how wealthy he is.
The people around you probably
won't understand your symptoms.
They certainly don't for me.
As each test comes back negative,
the doctors won't have
a ------- clue what's going on.
I don't know what happened.
There was some type of a change.
Something happened to his mind.
A person possibly shot
in front of the Hilton Hotel.
In criminology, we very often
conduct, after a horrific crime...
...what we call a psychological,
or reverse, autopsy.
We try to reconstruct the psychology
of our suspect working backwards,
so that we understand
the trajectory of events.
I met Luigi...
It was the latter part of 2022.
And mark.
My name's Dorian Wright
and I am a yoga instructor
and a studio owner.
He was just a normal, happy-go-lucky
kind of 26-year-old guy.
I don't know what would motivate
someone like that
to do something like that.
So, I created a co-living space
in Honolulu during COVID
and he applied to be a member.
He was excited to move to Hawaii.
He wanted to focus on his health and
he was looking to make new friends.
It's incomprehensible that the person
I knew and was friends with
could assassinate somebody.
When I looked at Luigi, I didn't see
anything out of the ordinary.
He was quite tall and very fit.
Every time he walked in, yeah,
all the women would look at him.
So, yeah, he was a head-turner
for the women
and even one of our teachers
matched with him on Tinder.
It appears he suffers a life-changing
injury during a surfing accident
that caused him
a severe back injury
and that's what may have put him
on his path.
Started when
I first aggravated my spondy
one and a half years ago
after surfing.
Yeah, spondy is a bony defect
in the back part of the spine.
This piece of bone in the back
that's normally attached to the spine
is not attached to the spine.
My back and hips locked up
after the accident
and my whole lumbar hips
have been out of whack since.
Bladder and genital pain
for the last year, on and off.
Luigi is typical
of every patient in my practice.
You're bounced around
the medical system,
nobody tells you what is going on.
Repeatedly dashing hope
induces depression.
It was completely devastating
as a young, athletic person.
Seemingly all I could read
on the Internet
was that I was destined
to chronic pain and a desk job
for the rest of my life.
It was one of those
interesting injuries
where one day
he could perhaps be athletic
and do something and the next day
just immobile and stuck in bed.
I knew he had to go home, back
to the East Coast, for a surgery.
I had surgery two weeks ago
because I had nerve issues.
He sent me some images
of his X-rays post-surgery
that just make you cringe.
Three-, four-inch screws
into somebody's spine.
Surgery was painful
for the first couple of days,
but I was shocked
that by day seven
I was on literally
zero pain meds.
Obviously, it will be a while
until I get into rigorous activity,
but it was way less a big deal
than I had anticipated.
In his Reddit discussions
about his own back surgery,
someone else responds and immediately
Luigi starts to coach this person
on how to get the surgery done.
Keep trying different surgeons.
Tell them you are unable
to work/do your job.
We live in a capitalist society.
I found that the medical industry
responds to these key words
far more urgently than
you describing unbearable pain
and how it's impacting
your quality of life.
This is the first time in this
back and forth about the back surgery
where Luigi states in social media,
"We live in a capitalistic society."
And it's a condemnation.
After his surgery, Luigi seems to go
on a pilgrimage, if you will, to Asia
and enjoy and embrace
a persona of the backpacker.
In high school I was fascinated
with the idea of living
out of a tin can.
Well, not "living" that way, but
being able to survive in the wild
using nothing more
than a survival kit
small enough
to fit in an Altoids can.
And it's a good reminder that
we're able to go long periods
without needing many things.
Remember, he has always had
every advantage,
but now he wants to see
how little he can live on.
I suppose I've always been
hyper-obsessed with efficiency
and I've never been materialistic.
Those traits have persisted
into adulthood.
They are why I became an engineer.
In early 2024
Luigi Mangione pops up again
and this time with a review
on Goodreads
of the Ted Kaczynski manifesto.
Ted Kaczynski
was known as the Unabomber,
who had created fear for years
by sending packages
that had bombs in them
to various people that he thought
were part of the societal problem.
Luigi wrote a very positive review
of the Kaczynski manifesto.
It's easy to quickly
and thoughtless write this off
as the manifesto of a lunatic
in order to avoid facing
some of the uncomfortable problems
it identifies.
He was a violent individual,
rightfully imprisoned,
who maimed innocent people.
While these actions
tend to be characterized
as those of a crazy Luddite,
however,
they are more accurately seen
as those of an extreme
political revolutionary.
Some people are gonna say,
"Why are you even amplifying
this guy's views?"
From a law enforcement perspective,
they're going to wanna know
as much as they can
about the alleged killer,
including why he may have done it.
A take I found online
that I think is interesting.
"Peaceful protest
is outright ignored.
"Economic protest isn't possible
in the current system,
so how long until we recognize
that violence against those
who lead us to destruction
is justified as self-defense?
"'Violence never solved anything'
is a statement uttered
by cowards and predators."
It will be just ten months
from the time of that review
that he gets a gun
and allegedly takes action.
Luigi reached out to me via email.
He was in Japan at the time
and he said he was
a long-time fan of my work.
So, one of the articles
that most resonated with Luigi
was an article that I'd written
called Why Everything
Is Becoming A Game,
in order to addict people to them.
He had bought a $200
founding membership to my blog.
So, in May we had a video call.
I remember that,
as soon as I saw him,
he gave me a big smile
and he was very enthusiastic.
He described Japanese culture
as a peak NPC-ville.
NPC isa meme online
which means Non-Player Character
and it's a term that's been borrowed
from Dungeons and Dragons.
It refers to characters
in fictional worlds
that are not controlled by players
but are controlled
by a computer program
or by the Dungeon Master.
He believed people were
increasingly living automated lives.
It was a big concern of his.
I got the sense that maybe
he felt the lack of social connection
himself,
that the people around him were not
on the same wavelength as him.
I followed up March, April, May.
Each month, just a text message
checking in,
"Hey, bro, how you doing?
What's going on?"
and didn't hear from him.
He didn't interact with
any of my writing after June 10th,
so it was the last time.
He seems to have not interacted
with, really, anybody else.
He seemed to have gone dark, mostly,
after that period.
Six months,
no-one had heard from him.
His friends, his family, his parents.
He isolated himself and there was
no-one there to guide him.
And then, you know,
your mind goes off.
In his valedictorian speech,
he thanks the parents.
Thank you for all the time and love
you put into our lives.
You instilled values in us,
fed and clothed us
and simply been there for us
every step of the way.
So, fast forward
to the age of 25, 26.
He's not communicating with
his parents, he's shut them out.
Perhaps, in his mind,
his family had become the enemy
because they were capitalists,
they were incredibly wealthy.
Cutting off communication
with his parents was the only way
to keep these magical ideas
in full float in his brain.
His parents would have been
a reality check.
The shooter's mother had reported him
missing in San Francisco
back on November 18th of 2024.
In my view, the fact that even
his mother didn't know where he was
would seem to indicate
he really had made a big decision
to prepare for this incident.
To the Feds.
I'll keep this short
because I do respect
what you do for our country.
Police say he even laid out his plans
in a short letter to the Feds
and a spiral notebook,
both of which were found on him
at the time he was arrested.
The details
are finally coming together.
I'm glad, in a way,
that I've procrastinated
because it allowed me
to learn more about UHC.
The target is insurance.
It checks every box.
It's not necessarily easy
to know exactly where
a CEO will be at a particular time.
The fact that this conference
was on the Internet
with the dates and the times
allowed him to plot this in exactly
the way that he had wanted.
This investor conference is a true
windfall and, most importantly,
the message becomes self-evident.
Seemingly appreciating
that they are letting him know
exactly where
Brian Thompson's going to be.
When I first heard the news,
I was in disbelief.
Couldn't be the same Brian Thompson,
it just couldn't be.
I remember him as a cute little kid.
I'm very good friends
with his mother Pat.
It's a heart-break.
We are fortunate enough
to know him so well
that the memories we have of him
are very joyful.
He was very talented,
a very bright individual.
Funny, had a sense of humor.
Enjoyed life.
We have what's called
Watermelon Day,
our annual celebration
where we serve free watermelon.
We have a parade in the morning.
His mom was known as the Ticket Lady,
so the Thompsons were well known
for Watermelon Day.
Brian Thompson
was also a valedictorian.
He was also an overachiever.
One of his classmates
and his best friend said,
"He's probably the smartest kid
in our class
and the smartest kid
I've ever known."
He went to University of Iowa,
did very well
in the business classes.
It's not easy,
coming from a small town.
I kind of knew
he was bound for great things.
And ultimately made his way
to becoming the CEO
of a major healthcare division.
Hi, I'm Brian Thompson,
CEO of UnitedHealthCare.
Brian Thompson
did climb the corporate ladder
very successfully
and relatively quickly at United.
Wendell interview take one. Mark.
I was in the industry for 20 years
and I'm not
the industry's favorite person.
I think as we look over the long term
of this three-year period...
Brian Thompson helped that company
become very, very profitable
and to be a Wall Street darling
for much of his tenure.
United is the largest company
in the US by market cap,
behind only Apple, Google, Walmart.
It has grown and grown,
but has our life expectancy? No.
We have no indication that he was
ever a client of UnitedHealthcare,
but he does mention that it is the
fifth largest corporation in America.
That's possibly why
he targeted that company.
Once a year, the executives go
to New York City.
They stage this half-day program.
It's kind of like a dog and pony show
in which the executives
tell investors,
"This is what our plans are
for profitable growth."
In the simplest sense,
we're helping to accelerate
the transition from volume to value.
Just curious in terms of how
that drives your thinking on growth.
Great question, Scott.
Brian, if you might like to start.
And Brian Thompson was always
very accomplished, very well spoken,
very adept
at answering their questions.
Certainly from this vantage point,
I feel good about the benefits
we've put in the marketplace,
the pricing, et cetera, so I feel
good about where we're positioned.
During the time that Brian Thompson
was CEO of UnitedHealthcare,
a study of companies
and their denial rates
showed that UnitedHealthcare
was at the top, if not the top,
in terms of refusing
or denying coverage
for treatments that patients needed
and it's an example
of what that company, in particular,
has been doing to satisfy
Wall Street's profit expectation.
More than 150 people
protested at
UnitedHealthcare headquarters today.
Nearly a dozen left in handcuffs.
The organizers want United
to stop denying claims.
I am a United Healthcare Medicare
disadvantaged member.
I needed a surgery in January,
a hysterectomy.
And roughly two days
before the scheduled surgery,
I received a denial
from UnitedHealthcare.
I was informed that
the reason for the denial
was that the surgery was perceived
as not medically necessary.
It was infuriating,
it was frustrating.
We're making it easier
for customers and consumers
to get the most
out of their benefits.
And I was, frankly, at a loss.
I didn't see a way forward.
My surgeon did fight for me, though.
I was able to have it as scheduled,
but I did not know
until the day before.
United wouldn't do what they did
if there were consequences
for their behavior.
We want the system
to work better for everyone.
The subtext of that,
of what he was saying is that,
yeah, it would be great
if they could figure out
how to make the system work
for all the stakeholders.
It's just simply not possible
because if you are making the system
work better and more smoothly
for people enrolled
in your health plans,
that means there's not as much money
left over to reward shareholders.
At the time, there were reports
that Brian Thompson
was under investigation
for possible insider trading.
He, reportedly,
is one of the executives,
there are several, that did
share sales two weeks before
it was revealed that
there was an antitrust investigation
launched by the DOJ into the company.
He and multiple
other UnitedHealth executives
are accused of offloading something
like 15 million shares of stock
before the probe was announced.
Of course, once that investigation
by the DOJ was announced,
the stock then plummeted.
The reality is these mafioso
have simply gotten too powerful
and they continue to abuse
our country for immense profit
because the American public has
allowed them to get away with it.
He refers to healthcare companies
as the mafioso.
He is clearly...
...writing this
for public consumption.
So, Luigi Mangione
seems to go on a mission.
He has an enemy in his crosshairs
and it is the insurance industry.
And on the morning of December 4th,
based on everything we know
from law enforcement,
it seems the paths
of these two former valedictorians...
...were about to cross.
I do apologize for any strife
or traumas, but it had to be done.
Frankly, these parasites
had it coming.
We know that when
he first arrived in New York City
at the end of November,
he visited that hotel.
He definitely was casing the area.
The morning of the incident itself,
we know that he was at the hotel
an hour prior.
As of right now,
we think he acted alone.
To save you a lengthy investigation,
I state plainly that
I wasn't working with anyone.
You can check serial numbers to
verify this is all self-funded.
My own ATM withdrawals.
He had over $5,000 worth of cash
on him in $100 bills.
He paid everything in cash.
This was fairly trivial.
Some elementary social engineering,
basic CAD, a lot of patience.
CAD, which is
Computer Aided Design software,
to get a 3D ghost gun printed.
It's a semi-automatic pistol.
It had a suppressor on it
that was also built on a 3D printer.
Every time he fired,
the gun would jam,
so he would have to clear
the malfunction to shoot again.
The recovered shell casings that
we had at the scene matched that gun.
My tech is pretty locked down
because I work in engineering,
so probably not much info there.
He also discusses the contrast
on whether or not using a bomb
to make his statement
or to just kill the CEO by himself.
He states that if he used a bomb,
that potentially he might hurt
some innocent people
and that would take away
from his message.
Obviously, the problem
is more complex,
but I do not have space
and, frankly, I do not pretend
to be the most qualified person
to lay out the full argument.
But many have illuminated
the corruption and greed,
for example, Rosenthal, Moore.
Rosenthal is a New York Times writer
who has written extensively
about the maladies
of the insurance industry.
Michael Moore, the very famous
documentary maker,
with his documentary Sicko.
The intent is to maximize profits.
You denied more people healthcare,
you got a bonus.
When you don't spend money
on somebody,
it's a savings to the company.
It's not an issue of awareness
at this point,
but clearly power games at play.
Evidently, I am the first to face it
with such brutal honesty.
There seems to be
a tremendous amount of narcissism
going on with Luigi Mangione.
You know, "Here I am, I am so smart.
I did this for a reason.
"It had to be done
and I am the only person smart enough
and brave enough to do it."
I think some people forget
how cold-blooded this was.
This is a guy
who was shot in the back.
One might have expected
this accused murderer
wanted to say something to
Brian Thompson before killing him.
You know, "You dirty rat. You...
"You're responsible for the deaths
of millions," et cetera.
But he didn't do that.
It's the lone wolf theory.
That's what we fear the most,
is the lone wolf,
where he doesn't tell anybody
what he's doing,
he travels by himself,
he keeps a very low profile
and he tracks down his prey
and does his thing.
Luigi Mangione,
the man accused of killing
UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson,
is now in New York City after waiving
extradition from Pennsylvania.
Several police officers
and even the mayor of New York,
Eric Adams, accompanied Mangione.
We're seeing the radicalization
of our young people.
We're seeing
our young people believing
that the answer to a problem
is by using violence.
I think it is the wrong way to go.
Mangione is facing several charges,
including first degree murder
and furtherance of terrorism
and unlawful possession
of a ghost gun.
Charging the crime
of murder in the first degree
and other related charges.
How do you plead to this indictment,
sir? Guilty or not guilty?
He leans into the microphone
to say the words clearly...
Not guilty.
..."Not guilty,"
with a level of confidence.
Just... He's unperturbed
by the whole process,
like, "This is beneath me."
"Sorry, I have to show up
and go through all of this.
"But time will tell.
You will see this was necessary."
I'm very concerned about my client's
right to a fair trial in this case.
He's being prejudiced
by some statements
that are being made
by government officials.
He's a young man
and he is being treated
like a human ping pong ball,
like some sort of political fodder,
like some sort of spectacle.
He was on display
for everyone to see
in the biggest staged perp walk
I've ever seen in my career.
It was absolutely unnecessary.
This has to stop and
we're gonna fight these charges,
whether it's in state or federal,
to the fullest extent.
Thank you, Your Honor.
It sure seems to me his defense
is not going to be, "I didn't do it."
He could try insanity,
but I don't think he's going to.
I think he would refuse.
That would undermine
his entire cause.
But as a practical matter,
the defense is likely gonna focus
all on jury selection,
trying to find people
who will sympathize,
or at least understand,
why Luigi Mangione allegedly did
what he did.
Free Luigi! Free Luigi!
Reaction to Thompson's death
has been swift
from people across the state
and country.
I knew Brian. Tragic.
Brian was a wonderful person,
with a big heart
and who lived life to the fullest.
Our hearts are broken and we are
completely devastated by this news.
He touched so many lives.
I just want people to know
that this was a young boy
who worked hard to be successful.
He could've done
a lot of good in this world
and he was taken way too soon.
But Brian Thompson became
completely forgotten, as a person.
He became the representative
for the healthcare industry
that deserved to die.
Luigi Mangione dropped...
Yeah.
Luigi Mangione
got a stunning amount of support.
Luigi Mangione,
the suspect in the shooting
of the CEO of UnitedHealthcare,
has become the hottest
cold-blooded killer in America.
I'm not sure what this says about us.
Luigi Mangione was being treated
as some sort of hero.
From what I know now,
I'd say, yes, he is.
- We'll see what the end outcome is.
- You really think--
- Absolutely.
- Accused of murder, he's a hero.
Absolutely.
I host a call-in radio show
and when I talked about the fact
that it is abhorrent that
people are trying to defend him,
almost every caller called in
to yell at me.
Well, what I got is, I guess
you guys just missed the real news
and the fact that there's
tens of thousands of people
that are dying every year
because of the damn greed.
It's gonna happen even more.
I guarantee you won't find
a unanimous jury
to convict this guy. Why?
He doesn't ------- deserve it.
I think it is shameful
to somehow blame Brian Thompson
for his own murder.
People wanted somebody to scapegoat.
They found it in Brian Thompson
because he was the CEO
of the largest
health insurance company in the US.
And so they naturally saw
a young man like Luigi,
who's a very handsome guy,
he's very charismatic.
He allegedly committed his crime
in a very spectacular way.
Of course there were gonna be people
who would see him as a folk hero.
It was immediately clear to me
why someone might have wanted
to kill this guy.
The December 4th Legal Committee
wanted to give a voice
to all the people
and the anger that they felt.
One $20 donor writes,
"NYPD officer here.
"We're rooting for you
behind the scenes"
and then describes a loved one
who passed away
after insurance claims were denied.
One doctor who donated says, quote,
"I applaud Luigi
for his courage, heart and passion."
A nurse who donated $100
calls Luigi a soldier of the people.
"If anyone deserves a badge of honor,
it is you."
I don't think it's possible
to be the CEO of
a for-profit health insurance company
and not have blood on your hands.
I understand
the cord that was struck.
Just hearing the difficulties
that others had
prompted me to share.
The part about me not feeling sad
is thinking about the role
and the position and what that did.
I know that the CEO is not the person
who looks at, you know,
individual claims
and yet there's policy there
that had significant consequences
for the lives of thousands
of people and their families.
Sometimes we talk about
the Robin Hood Syndrome.
This is off the charts.
Free Luigi! Free Luigi!
People are donating
to his defense fund,
even though he doesn't need money.
Young women are writing him letters
and throwing him kisses.
They're trying to make him a hero.
No-one is a hero
that has to use this kind of means
to get a point across.
The thing is, people aren't talking
about the US healthcare system.
People are talking about Luigi.
He's become a meme.
People are focusing on Luigi.
Although he had
this hatred of posturing,
it does feel like
an act of posturing.
By killing, allegedly, again...
By allegedly killing Brian Thompson,
he's not going to fix
the healthcare system in the US.
It's just not gonna happen.
I think he was intelligent
and he was somebody
who genuinely wanted to help people
and so it's just a great waste.
Nothing good has come of this.