In a representation of the public’s growing distrust of private health insurers in the US, a community of supporters has amassed behind the suspect in the UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting, raising concerns about safety regarding high-profile corporate figures.
Since the murder of Brian Thompson took place on a sidewalk in Midtown, Manhattan, on December 4, an online fandom backing the suspect has grown, with earlier social media posts circulating the initial security camera image of him, praising the suspect or “CEO assassin” for his looks and for committing the deadly shooting. Just a few days after Thompson’s murder, young men lined up in NYC’s Washington Square Park to compete in a lookalike contest for the wanted suspect.
After Luigi Mangione, a 26-year-old from a wealthy Baltimore family, was arrested in Pennsylvania as a prime suspect in the investigation, the fandom expanded further, with supporters circulating more posts fawning over his appearance, and expressing their agreement in anger toward insurers.
Variations of #FreeLuigi have been posted to X over 5,000 times, receiving approximately tens of millions of interactions, and Mangione’s own account has gained more than 400,000 followers since his arrest. The start of his legal battles even prompted anonymous donors to chip in thousands of dollars towards his defense through various online fundraisers.
The Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI), a non-profit extremism research group based in New Jersey, reported to BBC News that the hashtag #EatTheRich also went viral after the shooting.
Alex Goldenberg, a senior adviser at the NCRI, called the online reaction a “turning point” and “a catalyst for the normalization of political violence that was once confined to extremists on the fringes.” He added, “The dynamic we are observing is eerily similar to the activity on platforms like 4chan, 8chan, Discord, and in other dark corners of the internet, where mass shootings are often met with glee.”
According to the NCRI, engagement with posts about Thompson’s killing across platforms like X, Reddit, and others, surpassed that of the assassination attempt against Donald Trump in July. An analysis carried out by market research firm OneCliq found the vast majority of a sample of comments, four-fifths, contained criticism of the healthcare system.
Meanwhile, the shooting has also seemed to motivate people to take action against healthcare CEOs, with “wanted” posters of other CEOs appearing around New York City. A woman in Florida was arrested after telling an insurance agent on the phone “Delay, Deny, Depose. You people are next,” alluding to the words inscribed on bullet casings found at the murder scene.
“People are pissed off at the healthcare industry and they are using social media to express their frustrations,” Tim Weninger, a computer science professor at Notre Dame and expert in social media and artificial intelligence, said. “They’re expressing those frustrations by supporting this suspect.”
Recent research by Commonwealth Fund, a health policy institute, found 45% of insured working-age adults were charged for something they thought should have been free or covered by insurance, and 17% of respondents said their insurer denied coverage for care that was recommended by their doctor.
“It’s a horrific act of violence, and I absolutely condemn it no matter the motivation,” Jenn Coffey, who has been fighting to get UHC to cover her medical bills, told BBC of Thompson’s killing. “But I’m not shocked by the reaction.”
