New York Post readers have voiced strong condemnation of Luigi Mangione's guilty plea in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, with many expressing disbelief and anger over the public support Mangione has garnered.
Commenters largely agreed that Mangione is a murderer deserving of severe punishment, with some suggesting the death penalty or life imprisonment without parole. The narrative of Mangione's defense, which cited "chronic" back pain as a cause for his actions, was widely dismissed. "Who doesn’t have back pain? Should everybody who has it kill a health-care executive?" one reader questioned.
The phenomenon of Mangione's supporters, dubbed "Mangionistas," drew particular ire. Readers described this support as a "cult of idiotic fangirls," "delusional," and "sick and abnormal behavior." The confrontation between Thompson's widow and Mangione's supporters outside the courtroom, where some chanted "America loves Luigi," was called "disgraceful" and indicative of a "morally toxic society."
One reader drew a parallel between the public's reaction and Allan Bloom's warning in "The Closing of the American Mind" about the erosion of objective truth and universal moral standards in academia. The argument was made that supporters transform murder into an act of protest and the perpetrator into a martyr, shifting focus from the morality of the act to the identity of the perpetrator and victim.
While condemning the murder, some readers also voiced broader concerns about the healthcare system, including rising insurance premiums for the elderly and those with serious illnesses. One letter stated, "I feel the American people are victims of insurance companies and something must be done. That said, murder is wrong—even if you disagree with a company’s policies."
Another commenter, an attorney, expressed reservations about the plea deal itself, suggesting that the public support for Mangione could have led to a hung jury in a trial, thus questioning the strategic advantage of the agreement.