Nathalie Arthaud, leader of the French Trotskyist party Lutte Ouvrière (LO), has branded Luigi Mangione, the alleged killer of the UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, a “vigilante”.
In a statement on X on December 11, Arthaud acknowledged the societal outrage fuelling Mangione’s alleged act on December 4 while emphasising the broader systemic issues that led to it.
“The assassination of this CEO has highlighted the criminal policies of insurance companies that, for profit, condemn thousands of patients to death in the USA by refusing to cover their care,” she remarked.
“To bring down this system, it will take more than the act of an individual vigilante,” Arthaud added.
L'assassinat de ce PDG a mis en lumière la politique criminelle des assurances qui pour le profit condamnent à mort des milliers de malades aux USA en refusant de prendre en charge leurs soins.
Mais pour abattre ce système, il faudra plus que l'acte d'un justicier individuel. https://t.co/b4IE7GnqeP— Nathalie Arthaud (@n_arthaud) December 11, 2024
Upon Mangione’s arrest, US authorities discovered notes apparently illustrating his frustrations with the US healthcare system.
Mangione is the primary suspect in the broad-daylight killing of Thompson in Manhattan, New York.
He was arrested on December 10 in a McDonald’s restaurant in Pennsylvania.
The bullets recovered at the crime scene bore the words, “deny, defend, depose” — an apparent reference to the notorious strategy employed by US private insurance companies to reject claims and avoid reimbursing customers for healthcare costs.
The social cause allegedly defended by Mangione resonated with Artaud. Responding to criticism for labelling him a vigilante she said on December 13: “Seeking to make profit from people’s lives is CRIMINAL. And big scoop, LO’s policy: overthrow this system, expropriate the shareholders through a conscious and organised mobilisation of all workers.”
In the US, on social media, Mangione has also been portrayed by some as a “vigilante” or a “hero,” embodying the anger of those disillusioned with the country’s for-profit healthcare system.
BREAKING: Another Free Luigi Mangione billboard was put up last night this time along the 215 Freeway in Colton California. pic.twitter.com/5nSHzoUfvq
— Power to the People ☭🕊 (@ProudSocialist) December 13, 2024
In France, other radical leftwing voices have also engaged in the debate.
Nicolas Framont, editor-in-chief of the anti-capitalist magazine Frustration Web, penned an editorial questioning whether Mangione should be viewed as a hero.
“In the United States, asserting one’s rights collectively is much more difficult than in France … for the time being. It would be healthy for the ruling class to reflect on the type of violence that can engender a society where there is no other possible recourse,” he wrote on December 11.
