(NEW YORK) A poll found 41% of adults younger than 30 say the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was acceptable while 40% in that same demographic consider it unacceptable.
A new Emerson College Polling national survey found 68% of all voters consider the actions of the killer unacceptable. Seventeen percent found the actions acceptable, while 16% were unsure.
Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said younger voters diverge from the majority on several issues, including Thompson’s murder.
“While 68% of voters overall reject the killer’s actions, younger voters and Democrats are more split – 41% of voters aged 18-29 find the killer’s actions acceptable (24% somewhat acceptable and 17% completely acceptable), while 40% find them unacceptable; 22% of Democrats find them acceptable, while 59% find them unacceptable, this compares to 12% of Republicans and 16% of independents who find the actions acceptable, underscoring shifting societal attitudes among the youngest electorate and within party lines,” Kimball said.
Prosecutors accused Luigi Mangione, 26, of sneaking up behind Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel as Thompson entered a shareholder conference on Dec. 4.
Mangione faces a charge of first-degree murder in furtherance of terrorism, two counts of second-degree murder, seven criminal possession of a weapon charges of various degrees and criminal possession of a forged instrument. All the charges are felonies.
Authorities previously said UnitedHealthcare did not insure Mangione.
“We allege that Luigi Mangione carried out the brazen, targeted and fatal shooting of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Midtown Manhattan. This type of premeditated, targeted gun violence cannot and will not be tolerated, and my office has been working day in and day out to bring the defendant to justice,” District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement Tuesday. “He is now charged in a New York State Supreme Court indictment with three counts of murder and faces a maximum penalty of life in prison without parole.”