1 of 2 | Crowdfunding sites have raised more than $115,000 in legal defense funds for Luigi Mangione, 26, accused of killing the CEO of UnitedHealthcare on December 4th in New York City. Mangione has been charged with second-degree murder, three weapons-related counts, and possession of a forged document. Photo courtesy of Pennsylvania State Police/UPI | License Photo
Supporters of the suspect who allegedly gunned down the UnitedHealthcare CEO have raised more than $115,000 for his legal fees as of Sunday.
The account on the crowdfunding site GiveSendGo for Luigi Mangione, 26, accused of killing UHC CEO Brian Thompson, 50, is just one of a handful of spontaneous legal defense fund sites for Mangione that have popped up, As of Sunday evening, people had donated more than $115,000. Advertisement
“We are not here to celebrate violence, but we do believe in the constitutional right of fair legal representation,” the GiveSendGo Mangione legal defense fund site says.
The defense fund for the Mangione was established by an anonymous group calling itself “The December 4th Legal Committee,” apparently in reference to the day of Thompson’s shooting.
Several anonymous donors on the site left messages of support for the alleged killer. Advertisement
One person who called themselves “A frustrated citizen” and thanked Mangione for “sparking the awareness and thought across this sleeping nation.”
“I hope the little I can give will make a difference for you. I believe your sacrifice has worked and the people are opening their eyes.”
“Denying healthcare coverage to people is murder, but no one gets charged with that crime. ’bout time we point out this hypocrisy,” wrote another person in part of a letter that the legal committee says it wrote and sent to Mangione in jail.
Thompson was shot multiple times from behind by a man in a baggy, gray jacket whose identity was obscured in surveillance video by a large hood. The CEO was shot just before dawn while walking to a meeting at his company’s shareholders conference at the New York Hilton hotel on Dec. 4.
While donations continue to pour in, emblematic not only of peoples’ support of Mangione, but also representative of anger they feel toward health care corporations and insurance companies, police worry Mangione will gain martyr status while prosecutors work to bring murder charges against Mangione, a University of Pennsylvania graduate and former fitness influencer who had been vocal on social media about his disdain for corporate America generally and for health insurance companies in particular. Advertisement
Police found spent shell casings at the scene of the shooting that were inscribed with the words “deny,” “defend” and “depose” in apparent reference to insurance company tactics often thought to be employed to avoid paying subscriber claims, and a possible nod to the 2010 book “Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don’t Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It.”
Officials are also worried about copycat attacks as both public outrage over the insurance companies and support for Mangione build.
Florida resident Briana Boston, 42, has been charged with threatening a health insurance company by saying the words “delay,” “deny, depose. You people are next” while on a recorded phone call with a Blue Cross Blue Shield representative about a denied insurance claim.
Police arrested Boston in her Lakeland, Fla. home the day after the phone call.
She has been charged with threats to conduct a mass shooting or act of terrorism, a second degree felony. She faces up to 15-years in prison if convicted. A judge set her bond at $100,000. Advertisement
Boston told police “healthcare companies played games and deserved karma from the world because they are evil.” She told police she chose to use the words “delay,” “deny, depose,” “because it’s what is in the news right now.”
Officials said Boston was trying to leverage the UHC CEO’s killing to her advantage and to threaten Blue Cross Blue Shield with her words.
“She’s been in this world long enough that she certainly should know better… You can’t make threats like that in the current environment that we live in and think that we’re not going to follow up and put you in jail,” Lakeland Police Chief Sam Taylor said, according to local media.
Other crowdfunding sites such as GoFundMe have taken down campaigns in support of Mangione.
