OPINION:
Just this week, outside a New York City courtroom, a crowd of revealers gathered to support a cold-blooded killer: Luigi Mangione, the man accused of shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson dead in the back.
“I’m married to Luigi’s AI,” a woman, wearing a pink T-shirt with Mr. Mangione’s face and the words “I [heart] Italian boys,” told the New York Post. “I am not kidding.”
She said she had “planned a whole future together” with the AI, including having children.
Others were dressed as the Nintendo “Mario Bros” video game character Luigi, a plumber in green overalls. “Protest the Hero,” other T-shirts read. The crowd of 20 or so held signs reading “Luigi before Fascists,” “Jury Nullification” and “Not guilty, free Luigi.” They cheered loudly when they heard the news that the judge in Mr. Mangione’s case dropped the domestic terrorism charges against him.
Mr. Mangione, 27, with his boyish good looks, has become a symbol of the resistance to these people. He is a lone wolf fighting the corporate billionaires who selfishly withhold access to health care, a fundamental human right, from the masses.
They don’t see an indoctrinated, cowardly young man who took the life of a God-fearing husband and a father who had the fundamental human right to live.
On the Dec. 9 episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” host Jimmy Kimmel mused on Mr. Mangione’s arrest: “He was arrested after ‘looking suspicious’ in the McDonald’s. Doesn’t everyone look suspicious in a McDonald’s? Just sitting down and eating there is suspicious at McDonald’s.”
On the show a day later, Mr. Kimmel called Mr. Mangione “Time’s sexiest alleged murderer of the year” and “the hottest cold-blooded killer in America.” He commented on how his staff was “thirsting” after Mr. Mangione. Mr. Kimmel then shared his staff’s text message exchanges live on air, which included “I love him” and “I’m not mad at him.”
Mr. Kimmel’s staff shared the sick sentiment reflected by many of our nation’s youths. A January poll of students found that 45% sympathized with Mr. Mangione and 48% said they viewed the killing of Thompson as totally or somewhat justified.
In the wake of Charlie Kirk’s murder, we need to grapple with the uncomfortable fact that we’re living in an assassination culture and dealing with radicalized youths who have been drenched in leftist-communist ideology. They are unable to debate or reason with others. There is no achieving “unity” with them.
The Network Contagion Research Institute and the Rutgers University Social Perception Lab teamed up in an April study. They found that among the far left, “killing billionaires” and setting fire to Tesla dealerships had become a “meme aesthetic for political violence.”
“Political violence targeting Donald Trump and Elon Musk is becoming increasingly normalized,” the researchers said. “Following the July 13, 2024, attempted assassination of President Trump, tolerance — and even advocacy — for political violence appears to have surged, especially among politically left-leaning segments of the population.”
More than 30% of respondents said it would be “at least somewhat justified to murder” prominent billionaires. The figure rose to 50% for people who self-identified as “left of center.”
“The findings underscore the erosion of democratic norms and the growing acceptability of political violence in American discourse, particularly among ideologically extreme communities online,” the researchers wrote.
Social media have undoubtedly contributed to this societal rot. So have our high school and university systems. The breakdown of the nuclear family and a growing level of atheism have also played a role.
Yet, I am encouraged.
In the past week, hundreds of people have been fired from their jobs for celebrating the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Mr. Kimmel has been taken off the air for spreading lies about Mr. Kirk’s alleged murderer, saying he was motivated by the MAGA right.
Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas Republican, pushed back on CNN when host Kaitlan Collins told him that the motive of Mr. Kirk’s killer was unclear. Mr. Cruz correctly noted that one of the assassin’s bullets was engraved with “Hey fascist! Catch!” and the alleged killer confessed to his roommate. When asked “Why?” he had replied: “I had had enough of his hatred. Some hate can’t be negotiated out of.”
I was heartened when Sen. John Fetterman, Pennsylvania Democrat, appeared with his Republican cohort, Sen. David McCormick, on Fox News to denounce the left’s usage of the words “Hitler,” “fascist” and “Nazi” when describing their political opponents. More Democrats should follow Mr. Fetterman’s lead.
I was inspired to see the uptick in Turning Point USA chapters being formed in high schools and on college campuses after the assassination of its founder. Within 48 hours after Mr. Kirk’s death, Turning Point USA received more than 54,000 inquiries for new campus chapters.
“To put that in perspective, TPUSA currently has 900 official college chapters and around 1,200 high school chapters, with a presence on 3,500 total,” Andrew Kolvet, executive producer of radio’s “The Charlie Kirk Show,” wrote on X on Sunday.
“Charlie’s vision to have a Club America chapter (our high school brand) in every high school in America (around 23,000) will come true much much faster than he could have ever possibly imagined. Truly incredible,” Mr. Kolvet said.
This is the way forward. Conservatives need to stand their ground, preach the truth, call out the legacy media’s bias and never cower to the left’s excuses.
For we can’t unite with lunatics.
• Kelly Sadler is the commentary editor at The Washington Times.
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