On December 4, UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed outside an entrance to the New York Hilton Midtown Hotel on West 54th Street in New York City. The suspect, now believed by authorities to be Luigi Nicholas Mangione, age 26, shot him multiple times in the back and legs and fled on an e-bike.
UnitedHealthcare is the insurance arm of UnitedHealth Group, a multinational American health insurance company. Thompson, a married father of two, had been the CEO of the company since 2021 and was widely criticized for UnitedHealthcare’s rejection of insurance claims. Thompson’s widow, Paulette Thompson, told NBC News that her husband received threats related to a “lack of insurance coverage.”
The crime sparked a major investigation and search for the suspect by the New York Police Department, prompting the release of images of the suspect taken by a surveillance camera at a hostel and a Starbucks cafe. The NYPD offered a $10,000 reward for information on the suspect, and the FBI joined the investigation shortly after, offering a $50,000 reward.
While a crime of this nature usually garners sympathy, many have expressed the opposite sentiment. In the immediate aftermath of the murder, social media users have expressed a widespread contempt for Thompson, UnitedHealthcare, and the larger U.S. healthcare insurance system. This criticism was further fueled when authorities found three cartridge cases from Mangione’s weapon at the crime scene with the words “delay,” “deny,” and “depose” written on them. These three words are similar to a well-known phrase in the insurance industry, “delay, deny, defend,” which alludes to insurance companies’ efforts to avoid paying claims, suggesting a motive behind the killing to investigators. This phrase is also the title of a 2010 book Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don’t Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It by Jay M. Feinman, an American legal scholar, which critiques the property and casualty insurance industries.
The reveal of this information led social media users to express support for Thompson’s murder. The Network Contagion Research Institute released a report that found that out of the top ten most engaged-with posts on X/Twitter that mentioned Thompson or UnitedHealth, six of the posts supported the killing or criticized Thompson. Alex Goldenberg, a senior adviser for the Institute, remarked that the incident has been framed as “some opening blow in a class war” and that praise for the murder has come from across the political spectrum. The BBC reported that the lack of sympathy for Thompson expressed online “seemed to bridge the political divide.” Some politicians have acknowledged the public response while condemning the violence. On the other hand, in an interview with The Huffington Post, Senator Elizabeth Warren said: “The visceral response from people across this country who feel cheated, ripped off, and threatened by the vile practices of their insurance companies should be a warning to everyone in the health care system. Violence is never the answer, but people can be pushed only so far.”
In the background of this public reaction, the search for the suspect continued until December 9, when local police in Altoona, Pennsylvania, arrested Mangione at a McDonald’s restaurant after an employee recognized the suspect from images released by the NYPD and called police. Mangione was charged with second-degree murder, three counts of illegal weapons possession, and forgery and denied bail. Mangione was found to be carrying a fake ID, a device called a Faraday Bag that prevents phones from being tracked, and a 3D-printed gun and 3D-printed suppressor.
Mangione is from a real estate family in Maryland and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2020 with both a bachelor's degree in computer engineering and a master's degree in computer and information science. Police stated they believe Mangione’s motive may have been related to a spinal surgery that he underwent. Police also stated that they believe Mangione was inspired by Ted Kaczynski, also known as the Unabomber, and his manifesto Industrial Society and Its Future. According to police, Mangione was also found to be carrying a handwritten manifesto about the American healthcare system.
On December 10, journalist Ken Klipperstein published what he alleged was the full text of Mangione’s manifesto. In it, Mangione stated that he acted alone and apologized for causing “strife or traumas.” He criticized the U.S. healthcare system and healthcare executives, describing them as parasites who “had it coming” and noting that despite being the most expensive healthcare system in the world, the U.S. ranks “roughly #42” in life expectancy.
Police have stated that Mangione’s fingerprints matched those that investigators found near the New York shooting scene. Mangione remains in jail in Pennsylvania and has pleaded not guilty and pledged to fight to prevent being extradited to New York.