Supporters of Luigi Mangione, the man accused of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York, say he is a political prisoner.
The Dec. 4 Legal Committee, made up of 15 volunteers from across the country, formed shortly after Mangione’s Dec. 9 arrest and created a GiveSendGo fundraiser for the suspect’s legal fees.
At the time of publication, the fundraiser totaled more than $84,000 in donations.
D4 committee spokesperson Sam Beard said News week this assassination is a “political act”, making someone who engages in assassination a political prisoner.
“It was not the celebration of the murder, but the political desire for a health care system that actually took care of people that led to an outpouring of support for Luigi from all walks of life in American society,” Beard said .
“Our legal system treats isolated incidents of violence much harsher than the legalized structural violence that allows insurance companies to take advantage of people at their most vulnerable moments,” he added.
“If Woody Guthrie were here today, he would say, ‘Some people kill you with a ghost gun, some people kill you with an algorithm,'” Beard said.
AP photo
Although a motive for the killing has not yet been determined, Mangione criticized the U.S. health care system in a three-page manifesto recovered by law enforcement.
“United is the [indecipherable] the largest company in the United States by market capitalization, behind Apple, Google and Walmart. He grew and grew, but [h]than our life expectancy?”, the manifesto states.
“No, the reality is that these [indecipherable] have simply become too powerful, and they continue to exploit our country for immense profits because American public opinion has allowed them to get away with it. »
New York City Police Department Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny told NBC New York on Thursday that Mangione was not a client of UHC but could have targeted the insurance company by because of its size and influence.
Barbe said News week that no one on the committee knows Mangione personally but they support his upcoming legal battles.
“To understand why this fundraiser is important, just take a look at all the other crowdfunding campaigns in the United States. The vast majority are for the medical costs of people in desperate situations, the exact situations against which the insurance should theoretically protect. This is not the case,” says Barbe.
“The medical insurance industry is a system to profit from pain, illness and death. It only works for the people at the top.”
Do you have a story News week should it cover? Do you have any questions about this story? Contact LiveNews@newsweek.com.
