All NewsDecember 3, 2025

UnitedHealth CEO killing still ignites controversy one year later

There they were, lined up outside a courthouse in New York, hoping for a glimpse of the man they consider a hero.

Nearly 100 people, including some dressed as the Super Mario character Luigi, gathered in lower Manhattan on Dec. 1 to show their support for Luigi Mangione, 27, who is charged with gunning down UnitedHealth Group (UHN) CEO Brian Thompson nearly a year ago.

Thompson, 50, was walking to the insurance provider’s annual investors’ meeting at the New York Hilton Midtown when he was killed early on the morning of Dec. 4, 2024.

Police said an armed man fired three times at Thompson with a suppressed 9mm pistol, striking the executive in the back and calf.

The assailant fled the scene on an e-bike, leaving behind bullet casings and an ejected cartridge that was inscribed with the words “delay”, “deny,” and “depose”.

The words echo the phrase “delay, deny, defend,” which is how some attorneys describe the way insurers deny services and payment to clients who file medical claims.

Mangione was arrested at a McDonald’s in Altoona, PA, five days later, and he faces numerous state and federal charges, including murder. 

UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was murdered last year as he was about to walk into an investors conference in New York City.

UnitedHealthcare Group website/TheStreet

Supporters rally around suspect

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in the federal case, and Attorney General Pam Bondi called the killing a “premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America.”

Police said they seized Mangione’s backpack and found, among other items, a silencer, a 3D-printed handgun, and a 262-word handwritten document addressed “To the Feds.”

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“Frankly, these parasites simply had it coming,” the Maryland native allegedly wrote. “A reminder: the US has the #1 most expensive healthcare system in the world, yet we rank roughly #42 in life expectancy.”

Mangione’s attorneys maintain the evidence should be excluded from trial because the search of the backpack was conducted without a warrant.

The defense is also looking to toss out statements made by Mangione during his arrest, arguing that police questioned him before reading him his Miranda rights.

Almost immediately after Mangione was identified, the #FreeLuigi hashtag cropped up on social media, and support for the Ivy League graduate reached near-religious proportions in some circles.

“FREE LUIGI and prosecute the CEOs of for-profit insurance companies that commit mass murder by denying sick people healthcare,” one poster on X said.

“This man deserves Sainthood, not prison,” said another.

One X post features a photo of Mangione in custody, side by side with Giotto di Bondone’s fresco “The Arrest of Christ,” depicting the moment Judas betrays Jesus with a kiss, which was painted in the 1300s and can be found in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, Italy.

As of May, Mangione’s legal defense fund had received over $1.04 million.

An Emerson College poll conducted shortly after the murder found that 68% of voters found the killer’s actions were unacceptable, while 17% said the shooting was justified. 

However, 41% of voters aged 18–29 found the killer’s actions acceptable, revealing widespread anger and frustration with the U.S. healthcare and health insurance system.

There were also people on social media who condemned the killing, and the #FryLuigi hashtag is also somewhat prolific on X.

Companies increase security spending in wake of killing

“He shot an unarmed man in the back and ran away,” one person said.

“You Mangione fanboys always remind me of that side character in films about a murderer,” another wrote. “You know, the psycho who cuts out newspaper clippings and magazine photos of their crush and makes a little shrine out of it.”

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In a statement, UnitedHealth Group denounced “misinformation” about its practices, stating that it approves and pays approximately 90% of medical claims upon submission.

In the months after Thompson’s murder, UnitedHealth spent nearly $1.7 million on security for its top executives in 2024. 

The healthcare conglomerate also paid $207,931 on behalf of certain family members of the executives to provide them with personal and home security services.

Other companies also significantly increased their security spending and enhanced security measures following Thompson’s death.

A study by the data and information firm Equilar released in May found that the median total compensation for S&P 500 CEOs was $17.1 million in 2024, up 9.7% from the previous year. 

The sharpest increase among all pay components was in perks, which surged 21.5% to a median of $286,343, according to Equilar—an increase that could be tied to the enhanced security measures companies are implementing following Thompson’s murder.

Allied Universal, the largest security company in the world, said that in the two months after the killing, its embedded security business (round-the-clock armed protection services) grew by 30%, while ad hoc security requests for executive travel soared by 300%.

“The safety of company executives has come into sharp focus, with 42% of security chiefs saying there is an increased threat of violence toward executives,” the company said in its 2025 World Security Report.

UnitedHealth Group shares fell nearly 20% in the weeks following the murder, and Allied Universal said that 97% of global institutional investors cited the importance of investing in physical protection for executives.

The firm stated that, on average, an internal or external incident can affect the value of a publicly listed company by 32%, which is 3% higher than two years ago.

Mangione’s hearing continued on Dec. 2, sparking renewed interest in the case and reigniting debate around the American Healthcare industry.

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