College students overwhelmingly sympathize with alleged assassin Luigi Mangione over murdered UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, polling from data intelligence company Generation Lab released Thursday found.
Mangione, a 26-year-old University of Pennsylvania graduate whose multi-millionaire family has been described as “Baltimore royalty,” purportedly killed Thompson, a father, husband and successful businessman who grew up in a working class family in rural Idaho, in December. Now, data suggests college students largely side with Mangione over Thompson, with 45% of the 1,026 college students surveyed by Generation Lab saying they sympathize more with Mangione, while just 17% sympathize more with Thompson.
Moreover, roughly half of college students surveyed believed the shooting of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson was justified, with 15% saying it was “totally justified” and 33% saying it was “somewhat justified.” The poll also found 81% of college students viewed Thompson negatively, with 29% viewing him “extremely negatively” and 52% viewing him “somewhat negatively,” while just 50% of students viewed Mangione negatively.
This is a UPenn professor glorifying the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson by former UPenn student Luigi Mangione.
These people are turning America’s kids into terrorists and killers.
Wake Up.
— The Persian Jewess (@persianjewess) December 10, 2024
A December Emerson College poll also found widespread support for Mangione among America’s youth, with 41% of young voters saying the assassination was acceptable and another 24% saying it was “somewhat acceptable.”
Thompson was shot dead on Dec. 4 in New York City in what police claim was a targeted attack due to his role as the CEO of a high-profile insurance company. Mangione was arrested for the murder in a McDonalds in Altoona, Pennsylvania on Dec. 9, following a five-day manhunt, with police reportedly recovering a scathing three-page manifesto written by Mangione about the evils of corporate America and the healthcare industry.
The alleged assassin has received a wave of support following his arrest, with political pundits and online users repeatedly commenting on his appearance, and some describing him as “hot.” People have even begun selling shirts, cups and Christmas ornaments with Mangione’s likeness.
While condemning the violent act itself, some politicians have sought to excuse the outrage at the healthcare industry that has followed Thompson’s assassination, with Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren stating that “people can be pushed only so far” and Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders saying that the support for the act proves “that millions of people understand that healthcare is a human right and that you cannot have people in the insurance industry rejecting needed health care for people while they make billions of dollars in profit.”
Thompson was praised by his United Healthcare successor Andrew Witty in a Dec. 11 email to the company’s staff, with Witty describing him as “one of the good guys.”
“Many have said that we’re all a little better for knowing Brian,” Witty wrote in the email. “There is no truer statement than that.”
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