It’s been nearly a year since Luigi Mangione allegedly murdered UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in the streets of New York. Since then, he has developed a shocking cult following.
This week, biographer John H. Richardson published the first book to explain what exactly happened to prime our society for this moment. Luigi: The Making and the Meaning tracks the rise and fall—and disturbing rise again—of a young man who was born into affluence, came of age in the Ivy League, and may spend the rest of his life in prison.
In the following adapted excerpt, Richardson explains why the adoration that Mangione has attracted since the shooting is so terrifying—not because he’s fringe, or because we’ve never seen anyone like him before, but because Mangione’s ideological background is remarkably centrist.
What do we do, Richardson asks, when our presumed assassins start to seem normal, and when normal people start to admire them? —The Editors
Why did dozens of people applaud for Luigi Mangione during his court hearing? Why have more than 28,000 people donated to his legal defense fund? Why has a satirical musical written in his honor attracted so many people that it had to be moved from a 49-seat venue in San Francisco to a 350-seat one? Why are videos of Mangione at concerts, or mentions of his name on Saturday Night Live, met with cheers? Why are even the guards at the Brooklyn prison where he currently awaits his trial reportedly fond of him?
Why has a man who allegedly murdered UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson won the adoration of so many?
