4mo ago

‘Hannibal Lecter’ treatment of Luigi Mangione ‘backfired’, says fundraising organizer

www.theguardian.com

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.

92 comments

Who would'a thunk cops are really bad at reading the room?
- "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!"
  
  The authoritarian mind can't help itself.
- Cops will shoot your dog for barking then wonder why people think they’re assholes
- They read the room they cared about just fine. They wanted to let rich people know they'll always go above and beyond for them, and they did.
His treatment caused about . 02% of the support for him.
United Heaths treatment of the rest of us caused the rest.
- 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
  
  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.
- 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!)
  
  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.
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."
- Only 9mm too, what a nerd. Back in my day, we were expected to have built up an immunity to 9mm by high school.
  
  I hear nowadays if you can't tank a 5.56 to the chest by 8th grade they hold you back a year.
  
  According to RFK the best way to get immunity is for everyone to cop a 9mm lead projectile, instead of using any form of preventative measure.
“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
- Not just the healthcare they need, but also healthcare that they pay for.
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.
- 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.
- he was currying favors for a pardon from trump.
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.
- 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.
  
  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
  
  Allegedly
  
  This reminds me of V for Vendetta and the end results of V's campaign, where all the citizenry donned the Fawkes masks together
- 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
  
  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?
  
  And knowing that they are just as expendable to us as we are to them.
  
  Luigi may live or die, but the Adjuster remains
This image is so ridiculous. Like he’s a danger so much that it took a platoon of people to parade this dude in cuffs. He allegedly killed one dude, he didn’t EAT the guy. It was blatantly obvious for everyone that this was a show of force, and it ironically makes them look weak as fuck.
You want me to respect your strength? Go put handcuffs on Trump. The rule of law is broken. The weak suffer the most and the rich pay to stay out of it.
I’m not a violent man. A death of another human is a complicated introspection for most people. Then there are others who don’t even consider the value or even a difference in perspective. Luigi is not some psychopath. Allegedly, he deliberately chose impact at the highest level he could. The representation of a broken and predatory system. It’s not ok that faceless entities who aren’t doctors can choose the life and death choices over the recommendations of doctors.
- He killed one dude,
  Stop saying this shit.
  
  Thank you! Everyone has been saying this and it's so cop-brained that it's frustrating.
  They have not proven that he killed anyone. He is innocent until proven guilty. When you accept that he actually did anything before he is convicted, you are aiding the police's and prosecutor's job by making the assumption that arrest = guilt.
  
  Yep. He didn't do anything. Innocent into proven guilty.
  If you want to be accurate, he was the primary suspect of the CEO shooting.
  
  Why, is the court going to use random Lemmy comments as evidence?
- That is what gets me, all these people who need guns and such to feel strong and tough. The pirates did that. The purpose of the Jolly Roger was to instill fear, but ultimately they wanted the other ship to surrender quickly and without a fight. Pirates were all about show to make victims be afraid of them. But ultimately they were just men in poor health.
Given the success He should start his Presidental run right now. ( I want at least to see this movie )
- A president once said “ I could shoot someone on fifth Ave. and not lose any votes”
  
  I could shoot someone on fifth Ave. and not lose any votes
  well, he hasn't shot anyone, but he is responsible for many many many deaths.
  
  I want to see a gun duel between Luigi and Trump. We can put together an Old West stage town, and let it play out.
- Eugene V. Debs moment
- Ya know, a certain citizen gone president recently employed the tactic to avoid persecution for his crimes.... Can we drag the Mangione case another 3 ish years so Luigi can declare for presidency? Then (based on precedent) his case has to stall until after the election.
These government gooners literally cannot comprehend why people live this guy and hate them. It'd be funny if it wasn't so irritating that these are the assholes in charge.
- It also helps that Luigi looks fine af. Like not even kidding I’m sure that’s a big part of the support too lol.
  
  I agree. Lemmy seems unable to grasp this. He looks like a super nice, ordinary guy that you'd like to hang out with.
  He probably is, but what about all the other people who don't look like him? No one talks about jury nullification for their cases.
It's like they keep forgetting he is handsome
critics as in boomers, and politicians.
Doesn't NY not support the death penalty?
- It's for the federal charges

92 comments