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A shocking number of young people support UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s killer, with 41 percent saying that Luigi Mangione’s alleged actions are “acceptable,” an Emerson College poll has found.
Twenty-four percent of U.S. voters aged 18-29 answered that Mangione’s alleged cold-blooded killing was somewhat acceptable, and 17 percent said it was completely acceptable.
There was also a stark split among those polled, with 22% of Democrats saying they find the killer’s actions acceptable compared to only 12% of Republicans and 16% of independents who do.
The poll involved 1,000 voters and was conducted last week.
Mangione, 26, was indicted Tuesday on upgraded charges of murder as an act of terrorism. A grand jury charged him with first-degree murder and two counts of second-degree murder after he allegedly gunned down Thompson outside a Hilton in Midtown on December 4.
Since the healthcare executive‘s brutal death , there has been a disturbing trend by young people who celebrate his murder especially those angered by the healthcare insurance industry in the US.
Former Washington Post journalist, Taylor Lorenz posted “And people wonder why we want these executives dead,” on BlueSky after news of Thompson’s murder broke.
“If you have watched a loved one die because an insurance conglomerate has denied their life saving treatment as a cost cutting measure, yes, it’s natural to wish that the people who run such conglomerates would suffer the same fate,” she said in an article defending her vile comments.
Meanwhile, a socialist professor at Mangione’s alma mater, University of Pennsylvania venerated the alleged killer on social media, calling the accused murderer an “icon.” Julia Alekseyeva, an assistant professor of English and Cinema & Media Studies, posted on TikTok that she has “never been prouder to be a professor at the University of Pennsylvania.”
Also trolls on social media bashed the McDonald’s worker who tipped police off to Mangione’s presence in the restaurant, with others calling to boycott the fast-food franchise.
“To the stupid b–h that ratted out my baby Luigi Mangione…you will be dealt with,” one troll posted with a violent “Family Guy” GIF showing a character shooting another in the head.
Also some individuals went so far as to set up a legal defense fund for Mangione.
In another development, Chilling “Wanted” posters featuring Thompson’s face and names and photos of other healthcare executives were spotted plastered all over Manhattan this week.
The signs issued a stark warning threatening that “HEALTH CARE CEOS SHOULD NOT FEEL SAFE.”
The alleged assassin, who comes from a well-to-do Maryland family led police on a five-day manhunt after he fatally shot Thompson on his way to the UnitedHealthcare parent company’s investor conference before finally being caught while eating at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s.
