Who Is Luigi Mangione? (2025)

[bunniefuu]

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 m*rder

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 k*lled 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 k*ller had inscribed

those b*llet 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 k*ller.

We wanna begin with

the intense search for the g*nman.

A g*nman is still on the loose.

A shocking m*rder

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 sh**ting 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 k*ller,

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 g*n

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 sh**ter'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 g*n printed.

It's a semi-automatic p*stol.

It had a suppressor on it

that was also built on a 3D printer.

Every time he fired,

the g*n would jam,

so he would have to clear

the malfunction to sh**t again.

The recovered shell casings that

we had at the scene matched that g*n.

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 b*mb

to make his statement

or to just k*ll the CEO by himself.

He states that if he used a b*mb,

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 m*rder*r

wanted to say something to

Brian Thompson before k*lling 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 k*lling

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 m*rder

and furtherance of terrorism

and unlawful possession

of a ghost g*n.

Charging the crime

of m*rder 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 sh**ting

of the CEO of UnitedHealthcare,

has become the hottest

cold-blooded k*ller 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 m*rder, 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 m*rder.

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 k*ll 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 k*lling, allegedly, again...

By allegedly k*lling 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.