“When we justify murder, we become a danger to ourselves and our children.” ~ LMB
On December 4, 2024, Brian Thompson was targeted and murdered at 6:45 am in front of a New York City hotel. Brian Thompson was a 50-year-old father, husband, and friend. His two teenage sons were 19 and 16 years old when their father was murdered and life as they knew it was shattered. Brian Thompson was also the CEO of UnitedHealthcare.
The suspect of this targeted killing, Luigi Mangione, is a 26-year-old white male. Mangione is also a son, brother, uncle, and Ivy league graduate. Mangione has since been hailed by some as a “modern-day Robin Hood” and “hero.”
According to Time.com, Mangione gained “about 1,000 followers a minute” on one social media platform following his arrest. The disturbing comments that followed reflect a sad, dangerous cultural shift:
- “Too hot to convict.”
- “He took action against private health insurance corporations is what he did. He was a brave Italian martyr. In this house, Luigi Mangione is a hero, end of story!”
- “For my mother—a victim of the insurance industry—Mr. Mangione, thank you for your sacrifice. May others follow in your footsteps of bravery and justice.”
When we justify murder, revenge, or violence as a response to systemic injustice—whether in healthcare, financial institutions, government or other areas—we become a danger to ourselves and our children.
To those who celebrate Luigi Mangione, Kyle Rittenhouse, or others like them: you are complicit in these and future murders. Supporting a culture where young men are taught that killing is a path to heroism, martyrdom, or justice is reckless, irresponsible, and profoundly harmful. These young men are not saviors, “Robin Hoods,” or martyrs. They are human beings—sons, brothers, uncles—whom you encourage and cheer on, only to see them become both victims and perpetrators in a tragic cycle of violence.
Our nation’s boys are not sacrificial lambs for society’s anger. They do not need grown adults romanticizing or glorifying murder. What they need is mature adults and grounded leaders to help them manage the difficulties that life throws at them. They need a culture that teaches them that violence is not strength, killing is not courage, and murder will never solve complex problems like greed or systemic injustice.
Rather than praising these violent acts, how about teaching boys and men that shooting the CEO of a HealthCare company will NOT solve the problem of healthcare. How about telling them that you can kill every CEO in the world, and it will not fix the problems of greed, power, and inequality. And how about talking to them –from the time they are born—that the only thing violence leaves behind is a permanent trail of loss, pain, and trauma—rippling through the lives of victims, their families, and the perpetrators themselves.
Listen to your messages:
- “A brave Italian martyr?”;
- “Thank you for your sacrifice?”;
- “May others follow in your footsteps?”
Take in the impact of what you are telling this 26-year-old who gunned down the father of two other young men 19 and 16 years of age. What do you tell those boys? Do you tell them to gun down their father’s killer, or his employers, or their neighbors who applaud their father’s killing? Where does it stop? How many iterations need to happen before these young “heroes” are at your door mandating justice for something you or your family has done? And how many violent boys and men need to be cheered, sacrificed, and imprisoned before our nation cries STOP?
For those who applaud this violence, you conveniently ignore the devastation that victims and perpetrators will never have the luxury to forget. From your place of privilege and detachment, you romanticize and glorify these acts while the families of victims wake up to the heartbreaking sobs of children who lost a parent. You neither hear the echoes of grief nor endure the nightmares of those directly impacted.
And if your hatred for Brian Thompson and his family blinds you to their pain and loss, then consider the consequences for the very perpetrators you celebrate. Would you still cheer if it were your 26-year-old son living consumed by guilt, or “righteous rage, haunted by nightmares for his actions, imprisoned, and locked in a prison where he endures unspeakable abuse from others who feel equally justified in their rage? Would you still celebrate if your family became the target of constant threats, and your other children were ostracized and vilified because of their brother’s so-called “heroic” crime?
Every act of violence unleashes a ripple effect of pain that echoes far beyond its immediate victims—a ripple effect that you so readily ignore. These ripples, however, live in the bones of families and communities forever, creating scars that never fully heal.
It’s time to stop sacrificing our boys to a culture of violence.
It’s time to stop glorifying murder as an act of courage, strength, or justice.
It’s time to stop teaching that violence is a solution to complicated problems.
Violence is not manly. It is not brave. It is a desperate act with devastating, terminal, irreversible consequences.
Our boys—and our world—deserve better.
Challenge: Stop condoning, justifying, and cheering acts of violence. Stop sending the toxic message to boys and men that killing is honorable or courageous: it is neither.
