During his arrest on Monday, December 9, Luigi Mangione, the main suspect in the murder of Brian Thompson, was in possession of a 3-page handwritten letter in which he castigates health insurance companies which “make immense profits” on the backs of Americans.
Luigi Mangione’s motive leaves little room for doubt. Monday December 9, five days after the murder of Brian Thompsonthe CEO of UnitedHealthcare shot dead in the street, Luigi Mangione, 26, was arrested in the city of Altoona, Pennsylvania, in possession of “a short manifesto of 262 words written by hand”reports the New York Times.
“To spare you a long investigation, I clearly state that I did not work with anyone,” we can read there. In this short manifesto of barely two pages, the main suspect, Luigi Mangione, seems to take full responsibility for the murder of Brian Thompson. He condemns companies that “continue to abuse our country for immense profits because the American public has allowed them to get away with it.”
The “Robin Hood” of private insurers?
“I apologize for the conflicts and trauma inflicted, but it had to be done,” he said in the manifesto, before adding: “Frankly, these parasites deserved it”. According to the New York Times, the young man accuses health insurance companies of only caring about “immense profit” to the detriment of Americans. “The reality is that these [entreprises] have become too powerful and continue to abuse our country to obtain immense profits,” writes Luigi Mangione.
UnitedHealthcare is described as one of the largest companies in the United States by market capitalization. The latter has 51 million customers, 440,000 employees and generates $371 billion in turnover each year.
A political message amplified by the discovery of the words “delay” and “deny” written on the shell casings found at the crime scene. A reference to the book “Delay, Deny, Defend : Why Insurance Companies Don’t Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It” (in French, “Delay, Refusal, defense: why insurance companies do not pay compensation and what you can do to fix it”). In this work published in 2010, Jay M. Feinman, an American lawyer, describes the methods of insurers who seek to avoid reimbursing their policyholders.
The killer celebrated as a hero on social networks
Internet users didn’t need much more to elevate the suspect to the rank of hero. On Personal photos, films watched, favorite music, favorite hobbies… On social networks, American Internet users also began to denounce the insurers and support the actions of the young man suspected.
“This killer is being hailed as a hero. Listen to me carefully, he is not a hero,” responded the Democratic governor of the state of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro, as the investigation took a political turn.
