Who gets justice?

On Brian Thompson, Daniel Penny, Yeremi Colino and the services and protection wealth and paranoia afford.

After almost a week of searching, law enforcement arrested Luigi Mangione on Monday for the murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Thompson was shot and killed in New York City on Dec. 4 by a person in a hoodie. Thompson, the head of a health insurance company known for denying claims, was shot at least twice. Shell casings found on the scene were inscribed with the words "delay", "deny", and "depose,” an apparent riff on healthcare practices. Thompson’s shooter then managed to evade authorities in a city full of CCTV cameras, electronic surveillance and a police force with a massive budget and manpower, a lot of which was aimed towards finding the killer. In the six days between Thompson’s death and Mangione’s arrest, there has been outrage, admiration and more importantly, a massive display of the kind of power, support and services executives and rich people like Thompson receive.

It should be said, Mangione is innocent until proven guilty, he’s still a suspect. The fact that several photos disseminated showed clearly different outfits and backpacks than the initial suspect — an unofficial “lookalike” contest done over the weekend brings to mind Paul Dano’s Riddler and his followers in The Batman — showed how relatively common and nondescript the shooter’s look is. He deserves a trial, we’ll see. He does appear to be someone who has been dealing with chronic back pain, if nothing else. Looking at the last week it’s curious what the case against him will be; until Tuesday it seemed as if law enforcement was running around clueless, even doing bizarre filmed half-hearted searches of parks.

Thompson’s death has been celebrated by some, with the hooded shooter being dubbed the “Claims Adjuster.” Many others, to riff on Chris Rock, have said they might not approve, but they understand. Healthcare in this country is a nightmare. A lack of a public option and major consolidation and corporations seeking profit above care means people end up in medical debt for lifesaving procedures. It can bankrupt people. It’s an issue so common it transcends partisanship because it’s a lived reality. Shortly after Thompson was killed, his successor Andrew Witty was on camera in a leaked video saying “Our role is a critical role, and we make sure that care is safe, appropriate, and is delivered when people need it. And we guard against the pressures that exist for unsafe care or for unnecessary care to be delivered in a way which makes the whole system too complex and ultimately unsustainable.” For many people that “unnecessary care” part struck a nerve.

My opinions on the homicide are REDACTED. But until there is an actual trial, the more concerning factor is the resources spent trying to find Mangione. A running thread of this newsletter — beyond general panic — is both the access and resources wealthy people have and their general paranoia that leads them to seeking this stuff out. From weird armed and armored SUVs to private security on demand, there wouldn't be a market for this if so many people with means did not think they lived under siege. Since Thompson’s murder there have been some very public responses, even beyond the NYPD’s updates and bizarre half-hearted park search. A large reward was offered by the cops. Meanwhile, images and information on health insurance leaders have been taken offline. Companies are spending more on security and intelligence. This is already a time when the rich and powerful fight to hide public flight data of their private jets. In one sign of paranoia, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield reversed course on its plan to not cover all of anesthesia during surgery and other procedures, a deeply dystopian plan by the way.

And these are the actions that the public knows about. These are the programs and services companies either publicly marketed or were uncovered. There are almost assuredly more secretive, more bespoke concierge security and intelligence outfits designed to help the rich and powerful never have to deal with any possible threat from the plebs.

Note that none of the same resources or attention were devoted to Yeremi Colino. Not long after Brian Thompson was shot, possibly by Mangione, Colino, a 17-year-old migrant, was stabbed to death in New York City. Colino and another migrant, an 18 year old, were confronted by several men who apparently asked if they spoke English before stabbing them. The older victim survived and is in stable condition, but Colino died. As Mediate noted, the New York Times has not written about it, but devoted several dozen articles to Thompson’s murder. The killers are still on the loose. Several people who took part in a murder and an attempted murder are out on the streets of New York. The same city that will shut down a center meant to help migrants and refugees early next year, according to Mayor Eric Adams (currently indicted for corruption by the way). The homicide has all of the markings of a hate crime, it’s an unsolved murder and yet it appears only a fraction of resources and attention have been spent, compared to Thompson’s murder. NYPD only released surveillance footage on Tuesday, Dec. 10. There does not appear to be any reward out. Yes, this isn’t a major CEO, but it’s still an unsolved murder from the same day, with the killer apparently roaming the streets. A motive is much more clear here. But nothing.

It should also be noted that the same day Mangione was arrested, Daniel Penny was acquitted. Penny was the man who killed Jordan Neely. Neely, an unhoused New Yorker and street performer, appeared to be having a mental health criss on a New York subway, saying he was ready to go to jail or die while throwing his jacket on the floor. He talked about how he was hungry and thirsty. Penny, a white guy, put him in a chokehold for several minutes, even as people on the train asked him to stop and after Neely had clearly gone limp. Neely, a poor Black man, was killed. Penny’s case got special attention because he is U.S. Marine Corps veteran and that the person he killed was homeless. Penny has been celebrated by the right, even before the acquittal, for his use of violence against a homeless person. I’ve written about this before and I stand by my previous statement: Jordan Neely did not deserve to die.

The American legal system is a complicated thing, specific charges are hard to convict on, and there are bad prosecutions. Penny was filmed choking Neely; a medical examiner ruled that compression to the neck is what killed the victim. Neely is dead. None of these are in dispute. But again, Jordan Neely did not deserve to die. A concern here is that this might be used as a precedent going forward for violence against homeless people as more state and local governments — and even the federal government if President-Elect Trump goes through with his repeatedly stated plans to somehow round up unhoused and poor people and put them in internment camps with no clear way out — crack down on the people most in need of assistance.

If you want the clearest picture of where this stands, the New York Post put up a pretty strong juxtaposition.

You get security and attention, if you can afford it. Justice for Yeremi Colino.