On the morning of December 4, Brian Thompson, the CEO of health insurance giant UnitedHealthcare (UHC), was fatally shot on the sidewalk next to midtown Manhattan’s Hilton Hotel. Thompson led one of America’s most reviled insurance companies.

Since becoming CEO in 2021, he has presided over 140,000 employees and fostered record yearly profits. Critics have purported, however, that these profits came at the expense of insurees in need. In his tenure, UHC denied almost 20 percent of claims filed while charging deductibles that many find unaffordable. In the wake of his murder, social media sites were inundated with people voicing displeasure with the late CEO by telling their stories of high prices, outrageous denied claims, and quips such as “the claim for my condolences has been denied.”

After a six day manhunt, the alleged murderer was identified at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania. An outpouring of public support ensued for Luigi Mangione, the prime suspect, including calls for an acquittal. Mangione was even more deified after his motives became clear; his manifesto villainized Thompson as a “parasite” who, along with others in his corporate class, deserved a comeuppance because he’s “simply gotten too powerful,” and “[continues] to abuse [the people of the United States] for immense profit.”

Praises for Mangione, however, are only a part of “vigilante justice” movements in the past year. In February, New York-based vigilante group the Guardian Angels boasted to have “taken down one of those migrant guys” following an altercation. In July, Thomas Matthew Crooks came inches from assassinating Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania.

This politically motivated violence is ultimately an outlet for a surge in ire toward a government perceived as serving corporations rather than the people it represents. A rising number view the U.S. legislature as in the pocket of corporate lobbyists, including health insurance companies like UHC.

However, by using violence to foster political change, we risk undermining the democratic principles that allow us to have a representative voice in the first place. Violent means circumvent our fundamental rights to advocate change through the polls. Moreover, bypassing advocacy by traditional democratic means risks creating a spiral of violence, with instability and autocracy as the bottom. We, as young people, must engage with our political system in productive means, like peaceful advocacy, protest, and voting. In this way, we can make meaningful progress toward reforming a deeply-flawed governmental institution so it is truly for the people.

"We, as young people, must engage with our political system in productive means."