The Vigilante Banksy & The Performance Art of Spectacle

Or: The Ballad of Luigi Mangione

My good pal Sami called him “The Vigilante Banksy” - a disruptor with a message that managed to strike a chord on the guitar we call “online discourse,” whose work inspired feverish discussion over everything from his motive to his methodology to what type of person he was.

Why did he methodically execute UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in broad daylight? Why were the bullets marked with “Delay / Deny / Depose”? Was he a leftist? Was he a conservative? Was he a Carly Rae Jepsen superfan? Was he radicalized against gay people? Was he radicalized against black people? Was he radicalized against trans people?

the only clear answer is that our man had taste

The discussions were breathless, even though some of the answers to these questions were obvious - and some of the answers ultimately never mattered. As I pointed out a week ago, it wasn’t his motives, or even WHO he was, that was important as much as what his actions brought out in those watching what he did.

As Ray Sanchez and John Miller reported for CNN, a bunch of regulars at an Altoona, PA McDonald’s were walking in when one asked the question, “Don’t that look like the shooter from New York?” It was. He had a laptop, a backpack, and a medical mask, but he was recognized - and one of the customers told the McDonald’s workers, who called the police and, at about 9:15am, the UnitedHealthcare CEO Killer was arrested.

There was a reason for somebody to want to call the killer in - 60,000 reasons, to be exact. But as Sumanti Sen at the Hindustan Times reports, it’s likely this was all for nothin’: “the McDonald's employee who helped police trace the 26-year-old suspect in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson might not receive the hefty $60,000 reward after all,” they write. “As per rules, the McDonald's employee will have to be put forward by an investigating agency, such as the Department of Defense or the FBI. This will then be reviewed by an interagency committee, and if approved, the suggestion will be passed on to the Secretary of State, who will sign off on the final decision.”

But it gets worse, since, “[t]he entire reward amount could also be in dispute, considering payment amounts are based on factors such as the value of the information provided, the level of threat, the severity of danger or injury to people or property, and the degree of the source's cooperation.”

Judas isn’t getting his silver, it appears! To translate this a bit more directly, you need to be “nominated” by the governing body to get UP to a $60,000 reward… meaning it could be a substantially lower amount of money, if ANY.

All the way back in 2019, Barb Bergin, chairwoman of Crime Stoppers USA, told NPR that high rewards for publicized cases don’t yield higher paydays. "Nationally we are seeing programs who are paying out as little as 15 to 20% of their available rewards," she said. "I think the highest that you'll see around the country is somewhere around 60 to 70% of their rewards get collected."

i didn’t know taking a bite out of crime meant taking a bite out of my earnings smh

Moral of the story, kids? Don’t do police work for free - and don’t do it for the kinda-sorta-“promise” of “15 to 20%” of an amount, either. But since Judas reported this guy, he’s in custody now. So that part’s over. But who is the alleged killer?

(Photo by Altoona Police Department via Getty Images)

His name is Luigi Mangione. A 26 year old that came from money - his grandpa Nick was a real estate developer, who the Associated Press reports developed the Turf Valley Resort, “a sprawling luxury retreat and conference center outside Baltimore that he purchased in 1978.” His parents OWN a country club. His cousin is a Maryland state legislator. Luigi was valedictorian at a prep school before going on to get undergrad and graduate degrees in computer science from the University of Pennsylvania. He also appeared to be a fan of Peter Thiel.

I mention all of this to highlight one of the interesting dualities of the Luigi Mangione story.

Luigi Mangione isn’t really relatable to the average person.

And yet to the general public, he has become a modern day folk hero.

like if Paul Bunyan chopped down a CEO instead of a tree

Let’s think about a few of those questions I asked earlier. This wasn’t an act of incel rage, like Elliot Rodger. This wasn’t an anti-semitic hate crime, like that of the Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting. And it wasn’t an anti-trans killing like Alan Andrade’s murder of Angie Zapata.

Luigi Mangione murdered Brian Thompson for a fairly simple reason. Look, for instance, at his manifesto, obtained by Ken Klippenstein:

Exclusive: Luigi's Manifesto

Within the text of this manifesto, Luigi lays it all out plain as day when he writes, “Frankly, these parasites simply had it coming. A reminder: the US has the #1 most expensive healthcare system in the world, yet we rank roughly #42 in life expectancy. United is the…largest company in the US by market cap, behind only Apple, Google, Walmart. It has grown and grown, but as our life expectancy? …they continue to abuse our country for immense profit because the American public has allowed them to get away with it.”

For some additional context on Luigi Mangione, despite his privileged upbringing, reports have emerged that he was going through a bit of a health crisis for the past few years. While living in Hawaii, it was reported that he suffered from immense back pain that got so bad, he had to leave his job to get surgery. His Twitter profile photo was that of an x-ray with a metal rod and screws in a spine - a photo many suspect could be Luigi’s own back. And on top of that, it’s also said Luigi suffered from IBS and Lyme Disease.

To a lot of people, the motive was clear: Luigi, too, was a victim of the American healthcare system - and this was his way of getting back at them.

Of course, a lot of this is projection, right? Even though Luigi’s manifesto is short and to the point, it never comes close to diving into the personal element of why Luigi allegedly did what he allegedly did.

But maybe it doesn’t need to.

Within Luigi Mangione, a lot of people are able to project themselves and their own frustrations with the American healthcare system. I detailed a lot of yhe Dustbunnies’ stories from my comments in last Thursday’s Substack, who shared some honestly upsetting run-ins with insurance companies and hospitals. Beyond those stories, a lot of folks are also pointing out that there’s a sad irony in stories being shared about the “tragic death of the father of two,” when that “father of two” was responsible, directly or not, for countless tragic and senseless deaths that came about due to his choices. Choices like NaviHealth, an AI detection tool used to deny coverage to countless folks, including many elderly patients - despite the company allegedly knowing their tool had a “90 percent error rate,” according to Newsweek.

Put it another way: as @chris.writes.books writes on Threads, “Don’t live the kind of life where nobody mourns your death.”

But it’s not just stories being shared by people who relate to whatever they’re projecting onto Luigi. To get a general temperature check, take a look at this article from Wired, for instance, titled “The Internet’s Obsession With Luigi Mangione Signals a Major Shift.”

“Look no further than the comments on Daily Wire host Ben Shapiro’s YouTube channel,” Angela Watercutter writes. “On a video titled “The EVIL Revolutionary Left Cheers Murder!” the responses were swift and unequivocal: “FACT: Both left AND right are cheering! We don't care about your feelings”; “I’m not buying this ‘left vs right’ shit anymore Ben, I want health care for my family”; “Just because ‘the left’ likes something doesn’t mean you have to instinctively hate it. Wake up and read the room bro.” Not exactly the kind of banter typically found in the comments section of a manosphere video.”

It’s a simple message many are spreading: “consider the man at the center of this story and the life he leaves behind.” The father of two. The quiet man his board of directors loved. “Violence doesn’t solve anything.” And yet that’s not how most people are taking it at all. “It is not an issue of awareness at this point, but clearly power games at play,” Mangione ended his manifesto. “Evidently I am the first to face it with such brutal honesty.”

What I’m seeing is that people aren’t viewing Luigi’s actions AS violence. They’re viewing it as an act of justice - for himself, for others, for you, for the people of America. Like Sami said, he is the Vigilante Banksy, and his act of expression happened to have a body count.

Or DID IT?

Because we should also remember a few important things here.

• Luigi Mangione’s crimes are still ALLEGED - Luigi has not directly confessed to a crime, and despite the overwhelming evidence pointing toward him being “The Adjuster,” as the internet has memed and deemed him, he is still, technically, ALLEGEDLY Brian Thompson’s killer

• Could he have done it? - Despite the vague hints at HOW he did it within his manifesto, there’s also a picture to be painted of a man who suffered from a history of chronic back pain, Lyme disease, and IBS being accused of being athletic enough to shoot Brian Thompson, ride away on a bike, and pop sick wheelies through the hills of Central Park, while evading justice from the entirety of New York City police like he was playing a real 5 Star Game of Grand Theft Auto V. And even if he IS able to pull that off despite the odds… would a jury even believe he’s capable of it?

• Speaking of juries… how about the fact that it will be nearly impossible for an impartial jury to be found for a case already so prominent? As KTVU out of San Jose, California reports, websites are soliciting donations for Luigi’s legal defense fund - and due to the notoriety of the murder, jury nullification is a real possibility - a process where a “not guilty” verdict is reached, even if a jury believes someone indeed broke the law.

• And perhaps most importantly… what would the public reaction even be to the sentencing of Luigi Mangione? Would it be treated with a whimper, or a bang? Let me know what YOU think.