The manhunt for the man accused of murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson ended with the arrest of Luigi Mangione on Monday, Dec. 9.
Despite the cold-blooded crime he’s accused of committing, Mangione is being treated as a folk hero by some who are disillusioned with the American healthcare system.
Thompson, 50, was walking outside the New York Hilton Midtown on the morning of Dec. 4 when a masked, hooded gunman approached him from behind and fired multiple shots, killing the CEO of the largest private health insurer in the United States.
The gunman then fled the scene on a bike, riding into Central Park. He eventually went uptown and then left New York City, authorities said. A multi-day manhunt concluded when police arrested Mangione, 26, at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pa. He is now charged with murder and other crimes.
Before Mangione was identified, police circulated a still photo from security camera footage recorded at a hostel on Manhattan’s Upper West Side showing the suspect’s entire face.
Many social media users, rather than responding with concern, commented on the suspect’s good looks and wide smile. The trend continued after Mangione’s arrest when his photos circulated.
Similarly, when the shocking news of Thompson’s murder broke, many commenters expressed contempt for the private insurance industry, with thousands of Facebook users responding to UnitedHealth’s post announcing the CEO’s death with crying laughing emojis.
One person even commented on a CBS News post, “My condolences are pending prior authorization,” seemingly a reference to the one of the hurdles sometimes faced when filing insurance claims.
Acknowledging that the killing is being viewed by some as “fighting big, evil corporations,” and that Mangione has a “Robin Hood” status to some people, former FBI agent Rob D’Amico tells PEOPLE that sympathy for the suspect hurts the investigation.
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“It was definitely hampering it,” D’Amico says. “If one person sees them and recognizes them and doesn’t make that phone call because of it, that can harm [the investigation].”
Mangione was ultimately arrested after police in Altoona say a McDonald’s customer thought he looked suspicious and informed an employee, who then called police.
Luigi Mangione/Facebook
Police allege that Mangione presented a fake New Jersey ID to an officer, who then asked the suspect if he had been to New York recently. According to a criminal complaint, Mangione began shaking after the question and he was taken into custody for questioning.
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After being arraigned on charges of forgery, possession of a gun and three other charges in Pennsylvania, Mangione was charged with murder by prosecutors in New York. He did not enter a plea and will be arraigned in New York, pending extradition.
Thompson, whose high-profile murder sparked the intense social media storm surrounding the manhunt, became CEO of UnitedHealthcare in 2021 and was a father to two sons.
Leemore Dafny, a professor at Harvard Business School and Harvard Kennedy School, tells PEOPLE that the online response to Thompson’s death was “horrifying.”
“Some people have expressed that this is an unexpected consequence of a great dislike and distrust for the insurance industry,” Dafny says. “This is murder. This is not an expression of discontent with an industry.”
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