Abstract
The polarized reaction to the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO in December 2024 underscored the potential of ideologically framed acts of violence to undermine societal cohesion and challenge democratic norms. While many condemned the killing as an unjustifiable attack on a private citizen, others celebrated Mangione as a “folk hero,” glorifying him and his act as a symbol of resistance against an industry perceived as corrupt and dehumanizing. Using data from a rolling cross-sectional survey in the U.S., we causally tested partisan differences in support for political violence before and after the CEO’s assassination and the perpetrator’s subsequent arrest. While Democrats initially condemned violence against Republicans, their support for partisan violence increased following Mangione’s arrest. These results underscore the role of public discourse in shaping attitudes towards political violence, raising concerns about the normalization of politically motivated aggression, even among groups traditionally less inclined to endorse it.
If you go to any right leaning or conservative forum, you’ll easily see that right wingers hate the guy and chalk him up as “saviour of the left”. I don’t buy that he’s created unity for a second.
Yeah, but if you go anywhere on the fediverse he’s the biggest hero since the last person who did one big thing that ultimately had no real effect on the world, and who needs to look elsewhere for bipartisan opinions?
And if you go anywhere outside of the Fediverse, pro-Mangioni voices are removed and banned.
Corporate censorship on other platforms has made the Fediverse into an outlier on this subject, and then sadly people like you capitulate to the narrative that Mangioni is unpopular in those censored spaces.
I didn’t say he was unpopular anywhere else, just that people here don’t look beyond here for any opinions.
I think opinions are divided outside the fediverse, I think they’re not here because people are afraid to express another opinion because people like you jump down their throats.
Mangione is a troubled man who thought a random act of violence might make a difference in this world, probably because people in echo chambers like the fediverse do nothing but spew vitriol about how someone should do violence against people they deem to be the problem… while never doing it themselves. Either because they’re too cowardly to do it themselves, or they know that it does nothing but exacerbate an already volatile situation, and further polarize people. Because it gives them a fleeting sense of power.
I went through a medical bankruptcy at age 24, and I have never financially recovered. I have been bedridden twice in my life, and one of those times was due to gross medical negligence. So you’re right, I am desperate for a fleeting sense of power, and one of my goals is to radicalize people against the evil system we suffer under.
Luigi Mangioni is a hero. Instilling fear into the billionaire class is a positive and noble thing, otherwise their power is completely unchecked.
And if you can’t handle pushback, then I suggest you go find a comfy echo chamber, because this ain’t it.