Supporters of Luigi Mangione, the man accused of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York, say he is a political prisoner.
The December 4 Legal Committee, comprised of 15 volunteers from around the country, formed shortly after Mangione’s arrest on December 9 and created a GiveSendGo fundraiser for the suspect’s legal expenses.
At the time of publication, the fundraiser has over $84,000 in donations.
D4 committee spokesperson Sam Beard told Newsweek that assassination is a “political act,” making someone who engages in an assassination a political prisoner.
“It is not the celebration of murder, but the political desire for a healthcare system that actually cares for people that has led to an outpouring of support for Luigi from all walks of American life,” Beard said.
“Our legal system treats single incidents of violence much more harshly than the legalized, structural violence that allows insurance companies to profit from people in their most vulnerable moments,” he added.
“If Woody Guthrie were around today, he might say, ‘some people kill you with a ghost gun, some people kill you with an algorithm,'” Beard said.
AP Photo
While a motive in the killing has yet to be determined, Mangione criticized the United States health care system in a three-page manifesto recovered by law enforcement.
“United is the [indecipherable] largest company in the US by market cap, behind only Apple, Google, Walmart. It has grown and grown, but [h]as our life expectancy?” the manifesto said.
“No the reality is, these [indecipherable] 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.”
New York City Police Department Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny told NBC New York on Thursday that Mangione was not a UHC client but may have targeted the insurance company because of its size and influence.
Beard told Newsweek that no one in the committee knows Mangione personally but they support his coming legal battles.
“To see why this fundraiser is important, simply take a look at all the other crowdfunding campaigns in the U.S. The vast majority are for medical expenses from people in desperate situations, the exact situations that insurance theoretically should protect against. It doesn’t,” Beard said.
“The medical insurance industry is a scheme to profit off pain, sickness and death. It doesn’t work for anyone but the people at the top.”
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