Less than two years after the December 2024 shooting and killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, Luigi Mangione had pleaded guilty to federal stalking charges. According to CNN, Mangione said in court that he “shot Mr. Thompson in Manhattan and he died.” Afterwards, supporters of Mangione gathered outside the courthouse to share their thoughts.
In a video posted on TikTok, one supporter said that she sees Mangione’s acts as a “revolutionary act of protest.” And it prompted other supporters in the comments to share their thoughts on Mangione’s charges and what he did or didn’t do. He faces sentencing for his guilty plea in December 2026.
Luigi Mangione’s supporters have a lot to say about his alleged acts.
@nypost Abril Rios, 27, a self-identifying “Mangionista” and political advocate told The Post that Luigi Mangione’s plea marks the "end of an era."
♬ original sound – New York Post | News
In the TikTok, a staunch supporter of Mangione speaks to a reporter who asks if she thinks it’s “wrong that he murdered someone, regardless of why he did it.” The unnamed woman, described in the caption as a “Mangionista,” admits that she is in a “gray area” as far as her thoughts on the case go.
“I see it more as a revolutionary act of protest of the likes of which we haven’t seen since the civil rights era,” she says in the TikTok. “My reactions in court, um, relief, I guess, is the word. I think for a very long time, people have ascribed this idea that supporters are painting him out to be guilty by having conversations about the healthcare industry. So to no longer have to fight that battle is satisfying and relieving. But he has a lot of battles to fight. I want him to be happy and healthy, but I want America to continue questioning, you know, our current predicament and why we allow our futures to be stolen away by oligarchs.”
In the comments, users shared their own stories of dealing with the pitfalls of the healthcare system in the United States. Some condemned Mangione for his role in Thompson’s death and his guilty plea. And others backed up with what the so-called Mangionista says in the clip.
“Murder is an unjustified killing. This case is not murder,” someone commented.
Another added, “UnitedHealthcare has a 33% denial rate. How many people died because of that.”
However, someone else wrote, “Revolutionary or not, you are still going to prison if you kill someone!”
Luigi Mangione spoke in court about what he did.
While in court to plead guilty for the federal stalking charges, Mangione said, “On the morning of December 4, 2024, I shot Mr. Thompson in Manhattan and he died.” He also shared that he spent years dealing with the healthcare system after he suffered alleged pain from a broken back. Mangione claimed that he witnessed “similar experiences of countless others” who dealt with the complications and stonewalling of the healthcare system.
In order to get close to Thompson at an investors’ conference in New York City in late December 2022, Mangione explained in court that he posed as an investor himself to get information he needed to place himself where Thompson would be.
“I then emailed UnitedHealthcare leadership posing as an investor at a firm managing over $50bn in assets and requesting information about the conference,” he admitted. “Unlike my previous interactions with insurers, I received an immediate response within an hour.”
Mangione added, “My travel to New York and email to UnitedHealthcare was with the intent to shoot Brian Thompson.”
Luigi Mangione’s state murder charges could be dismissed.
@nbcnews Following Luigi Mangione’s guilty plea in federal court, his defense lawyer said Mangione “accepts full responsibility" for the death of Brian Thompson, and announced the filing of a double jeopardy motion to drop the New York state charges.
♬ original sound – nbcnews
Mangione’s defense attorney, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, spoke publicly about Mangione’s guilty plea in the federal stalking charges and how she plans to proceed with state-level murder charges against Mangione. She is moving to have some of the major state charges dismissed under the double jeopardy protection, which is part of the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and says that an individual can not be prosecuted twice for the same crime.
“New York law does not permit a person to be prosecuted and punished twice for the exact same crime under a statute that governs successive prosecutions,” Agnifilo said, outside of the courthouse in New York City. “It’s also known as the double jeopardy law.
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