Much has happened in the week since UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot in cold blood on a New York City sidewalk. A nameless suspect, caught on video, was finally arrested after employees at a McDonald’s restaurant in Pennsylvania turned him in. Luigi Mangione is now in police custody. Mangione’s alleged actions were evil, and the reactions of support for him have been nearly as disturbing.
Mangione, 26, is alleged to have pulled the trigger and shot an unsuspecting and innocent man to death. To a segment of the population, he has become a folk hero. If Thompson represented the healthcare industry at large, Mangione represented disgruntled and debt-laden patients. For some, that scenario makes Mangione’s alleged actions right. Excusing murder is alarming enough, but on top of the rationalization of cold-blooded killing is an element of attraction to…