Brian Thompson

Our nation has been captivated of late by the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on December 4 on the streets of New York City in front of the hotel where he was attending an investors meeting. Thompson was shot dead in the early morning by a young man who rode away on a bicycle and then, apparently, caught a bus for destinations unknown. Luigi Mangione was arrested at a McDonald’s restaurant in Altoona, PA on December 9 and charged with Thompson’s murder. The last I read is that he is being held without bail and is fighting extradition to New York.

There are a number of reasons this murder has caught the attention of the media and the general public. One reason is the identity of the murder victim, Brian Thompson. Thompson had been CEO of UnitedHealthcare since 2021. In the few years since his becoming CEO, UnitedHealthcare has been accused of practicing unfair and illegal methods to deny insurance claims of their clients, including a plan to start denying non-critical ER visits, a great increase in denial of prior authorization claims for Medicare Advantage patients, and using artificial intelligence to automate claim denials. A class-action suit against UnitedHealthcare filed in November 2023 alleged that the company used an AI model with a 90% error rate. UnitedHealthcare became the image of a cold-hearted insurance company intent on putting profits over people, and Thompson’s family reports that he had received death threats during his time as CEO. Reactions to his murder include social media commenters laughing or making crude jokes about his death, and others lamenting the “thousands” who had died because of the denial of healthcare claims. Mangione was given the nickname “the Adjustor” by those on social media who, it seems, are not terribly upset that he murdered a healthcare executive.

A second reason for the public’s interest in the murder was the alleged assailant, Luigi Mangione. Mangione is, objectively speaking, a very handsome young man, and jokes and comments quickly circulated on social media and even on Saturday Night Live about how “hot” Mangione is. Mangione comes from a wealthy family who made their money in real estate. He attended the Gilman School, a costly private school for boys in Baltimore and graduated in 2016 as valedictorian. Mangione graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering in computer engineering and a Master of Science in Engineering in computer and information sciences. In November 2024 his mother reported to the police that her son had been missing, not having heard from him for over four months. Based on that, it seems reasonable to conclude that Mangione usually kept very close contact with his family. Clearly, this is a very intelligent young man who is not ordinarily isolated or withdrawn.

Mangione had in his possession when arrested a “manifesto” critical of the American healthcare system and of insurance exectives, calling them “parasites.” He also had in his possession a gun and suppressor that had been created on a 3D printer. This is another reason for interest in the murder. If people can create working guns and suppressors on a 3D printer, then there is no way to trace these guns or to keep them out of the hands of those who have no business possessing them. This raises genuine concern among citizens whose alarms are already raised by the increase in violent crimes in cities like New York.

Can murder be justified because the actions of an executive hurt so many people? I don’t think so. Mangione, apparently, figured that violence was the only answer to fixing the problem of our broken healthcare system. It is not. In fact, I seriously doubt that anything will be done in response to Mangione’s actions. It would almost amount to justifying what he did if health insurance companies reformed themselves now that one of their own has been murdered. No, it will likely be the lawsuits filed against UnitedHealthcare and others that will force reform. That will be too late for the many who have suffered by having their claims denied. But that is how the system works. If we thought killing people were the solution for fixing broken systems, every member of Congress would be dead by now! I’m sure more than a few of them receive regular death threats. Let’s not forget, too, the attack on Republican members of Congress during their softball practice, and the near assassination of Rep. Steve Scalise and President-elect Donald Trump.

If Luigi Mangione is guilty of this crime, then his actions cannot be justified. He murdered Brian Thompson in cold blood. Humans too often regard killing people as the solution to our “difficult people” problems. Abortion, the death penalty, war, genocide, executions, gang warfare, cartel murders, etc. We cannot afford to add to this list killing people we don’t like because their decisions or actions hurt others. Who is in a position to presume such a privilege? Lord, if you should count our sins, Lord who could stand? As slow as the process may be, as frustratingly small the steps toward progress are, we must rely on the democratic system of courts and legislatures to solve these problems. We simply cannot take matters into our own hands and kill people as vigilantes of justice. Even if the death penalty can be justified (and I don’t think it can), it is for the state to act on such matters, not individuals.

If he committed this crime, Luigi Mangione took matters into his own hands, presuming the privilege to act for the entire community because he was convinced that he had that authority. He did not. Regardless of the support he has received (his attorney reports that he’s receiving donations for his defense), the right to take the law into one’s own hands doesn’t exist, except in the most extreme of circumstances, and this isn’t that. Mangione did not act in defense of a person in harm’s way except, perhaps, in his own mind, in the broadest theoretical sense, but that doesn’t cut it. Neither did he act in defense of his own life and limb. There was no immediate threat to anyone. As such, his actions cannot be justified. He had no right and no authority to kill Brian Thompson. This was murder, pure and simple. All attempts to see it otherwise fail.

Please God, no one decides to be a copycat killer. Protect our nation from such vigilantes. There is enough killing. We need to find a better way to solve our broken systems.

Be Christ for all. Bring Christ to all. See Christ in all.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Brian_Thompson