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Luigi Mangione and the Dangers of Vigilantism
Vigilante justice has a chaotic and dangerous history
Luigi Mangione, the suspected shooter of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, studied at some of America’s finest schools and came from a wealthy family. From an elite prep school in Maryland, where he was valedictorian, to the Ivy League at the University of Pennsylvania, Mangione appeared to have it all — intelligence, motivation, and ambition.
While we still don’t know all of the details about his motive, he appears to have had at least one fatal flaw — he thought he knew better. Assuming he is the shooter who murdered Brian Thompson in cold blood on a Manhattan street, Mangione likely thought his actions would fix the problem. He thought that his version of vigilante justice would at least send a message, one similar to those inscribed on the shell casings found next to Thompson’s body: “deny, defend, depose.”
He may have succeeded in his messaging to a degree. Numerous people flooded social media with messages supporting his vigilantism. Others felt the need to vocalize that they had “no remorse.” Almost nobody discussed vigilante justice more broadly, the societal implications, and its chaotic and dangerous history.
Let’s do that here through three historical examples from various eras…
