this post was submitted on 21 Mar 2025

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523

‘Hannibal Lecter’ treatment of Luigi Mangione ‘backfired’, says fundraising organizer (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 6 hours ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

34 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Summary

Sam Beard, organizer of Luigi Mangione’s legal defense fund, claims the dramatic “perp walk” resembling Hannibal Lecter’s treatment backfired on New York authorities, boosting donations to over $743,000.

Mangione, charged with murder and terrorism for allegedly killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, received heightened security during extradition, drawing public sympathy.

Critics argue the campaign glorifies violence, while supporters emphasize fair trial rights.

Mangione, who pleaded not guilty, faces the death penalty if convicted.

top 34 comments

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 40 minutes ago* (last edited 38 minutes ago)

“It’s horrible when anybody has their life cut short by another person, especially when it could have been prevented,” Beard says on Luigi. “But the same logic has to apply both ways, right?

“Preventing people from getting the healthcare that they need – that you and your company have access to and could provide them, but don’t do so because it would threaten your business model – that’s an act of violence, too,” Beard says.

Hello based department, we got a candidate here for you.

"Luigi" in reference to the name of his podcast not the person Luigi Mangione

[–] [email protected] 61 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

No, I pretty much supported him the moment it was clear that the CEO toppled over from a pre-existing condition called "being vulnerable to lead projectiles."

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 hour ago

Only 9mm too, what a nerd. Back in my day, we were expected to have built up an immunity to 9mm by high school.

[–] [email protected] 111 points 5 hours ago (2 children)

His treatment caused about . 02% of the support for him.

United Heaths treatment of the rest of us caused the rest.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

Well, also the fact that he looks literally nothing like the dude from the security camera stills, the police have been bungling every single step of the evidence process since before they "caught" Mangione, annnd finally all the work theyve done to preprejudice the public into thinking he did it by organizing documentaries demonizing Mangione while being too busy to provide the details of their "evidence" to Mangione's legal council (which they are legally obligated to do!)

[–] [email protected] 3 points 19 minutes ago* (last edited 18 minutes ago)

Well, also the fact that he looks literally nothing like the dude from the security camera stills

I don't know where this keeps coming from. I've got prosopagnosia, and even i can see they look the same.

[–] [email protected] 32 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago) (1 children)

Exactly, if he allegedly murdered the CEO of an organization that doesn't profit from the death and destruction of it's customers then the public reaction would be completely different regardless of any perp walk PR stunt.

For profit insurance glorifies violence, not resisting it

[–] [email protected] 12 points 3 hours ago

Yes exactly. Accused of killing CEO of children's charity known for amazing work with kids? Condemnation. Accused of killing CEO of organisation known as having caused a lot of suffering? Applause. I totally disagree with him being praised for possibly murdering someone, but I totally understand why people are doing it.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

Doesn't NY not support the death penalty?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 45 minutes ago

It's for the federal charges

[–] [email protected] 150 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

Who would'a thunk cops are really bad at reading the room?

[–] [email protected] 86 points 6 hours ago (2 children)

"Okay guys, we've got an attractive man with a huge amount of public support behind him regardless of guilt. How can we not turn him into a martyr?"

"Hannibal Lecter walk?"

"Yeah that won't backfire at all!"

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 hour ago (2 children)

[–] [email protected] 4 points 33 minutes ago

lol what could they possibly expect him to do that necessitates having multiple men with rifles?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 38 minutes ago* (last edited 36 minutes ago)

LOL. Looks like some orange angel taking a walk into hell.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 hours ago

The authoritarian mind can't help itself.

[–] [email protected] 92 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

The optics the recently indicted (and later hastily pardoned) mayor being one of the guys perp walking the sympathetic suspect probably didn't help them either.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 3 hours ago

Right? Most corrupt fuckin cop, there strictly for his own photo op of course, escorting a political-divide-spanning legitimate American folk hero. Seems like a pretty predictable response to me.

[–] [email protected] 71 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago) (2 children)

What they don't seem to realize is that Mangione himself isn't all that important. Whether they kill him or successfully vilify him, in a few years people won't be thinking about the man himself all that much. Their continued hardship will be what they think about, and as long as it's the capital class's fault, the anger will keep growing.

[–] [email protected] 46 points 5 hours ago (2 children)

The shooter is immortal with or without Luigi. The shooter showed us they bleed and they’re scared and stumbling now to stay in control.

They have to sit and marinate with their mortality now. It scares them knowing they aren’t that different from us

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 hours ago

And knowing that they are just as expendable to us as we are to them.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 5 hours ago (3 children)

This. Especially because it took days to actually find him. Imagine how pants-shittingly-scared the oligarchs would be if one got capped and they couldn't find the killer?

[–] [email protected] 25 points 3 hours ago

Who says they have found the killer? All I see is a scapegoat, snatched up by a panicking NYPD

[–] [email protected] 17 points 3 hours ago

And that's why I think that he's not the one. They scrambled to find whatever evidence and pinpoint to anyone remotely similar to make an example out of him (this comment can be full of conspiracy). My take is they will pin someone, make an example out of him and demotivate future Green Guys.

But the issue is just a social class problem. A CEO is killed, media labels him as a domestic terrorist, a narcissist destroys the whole country (Elmo) and he's a "hero", especially if he uses one of his 13 meat shields.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

Exactly. They would allege some look-alike did it, so you wouldn't know about it. That might even be what happened here.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 hours ago

I'm pretty sure that's exactly what happened here.

The odds of finding the real culprit after they've already eluded capture for 5+ days are extremely low.

Additionally, the evidence they supposedly found on him is extremely suspicious:

An untraceable gun that he allegedly kept on him the entire time even though the shooter discarded everything else.
A confession note that starts by talking about how much he respects the cops.

That doesn't just sound like the sort of thing that would be planted on him... that sounds like the sort of thing that would be planted on him by an idiot.

Unless they have actual body cam footage of them catching him and finding the evidence, I have to assume he was framed.

[–] [email protected] 75 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago) (3 children)

This isn’t about a man anymore. It’s about an idea.

I hope the jury nullifies the charges, but he’s become a symbol for the common people of America because he acted on the fury and frustration that hundreds of millions of us feel. You can’t really kill an idea once it gains hold in the minds of that much of the populace.

[–] [email protected] 28 points 5 hours ago (2 children)

It would be really funny if the jury nullifies (like so hard it's an acquittal, not just hung so they have to do another trial), and then he went and shot another scumbag CEO.

I would nullify again

[–] [email protected] 27 points 5 hours ago

Obviously he's innocent and being framed and therefore should be found innocent, but if he gets out he's going to be watched like a hawk. He'll have a whole team dedicated to his surveillance. Again, super innocent, didn't do it.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 hours ago

I feel like they'd disappear him anyway as a warning.

[–] [email protected] 28 points 5 hours ago

Allegedly

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 hours ago (2 children)

This reminds me of V for Vendetta and the end results of V's campaign, where all the citizenry donned the Fawkes masks together

[–] [email protected] 2 points 55 minutes ago

Behind this mask is more than a man, Mr. Creedy. Behind this mask is an idea, and ideas cannot be killed.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

No, I'm Luigicus!

Wait, wrong movie.