Award-winning director Michael Moore, famend for his vital documentaries on the American healthcare system, has reacted to the surprising homicide of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson by accused killer Luigi Mangione. The killing, which occurred exterior a Manhattan lodge, has ignited a wave of public outrage, and Mangione allegedly referenced Moore’s 2007 movie SICKO in a manifesto praising the director’s publicity of the US healthcare system.
In a submit on his Substack Friday, Moore responded to Mangione’s alleged remarks, quipping, “It’s not usually that my work will get a killer five-star evaluate from an precise killer.”
The director, who has been vocal in regards to the flaws of the healthcare trade for years, acknowledged the wide-reaching impression of SICKO, stating that thousands and thousands, together with Mangione, have seen the movie.
Moore then delved right into a extra critical dialogue within the submit titled “A Manifesto Towards For-Revenue Well being Insurance coverage Firms,” the place he condemned the homicide whereas concurrently lambasting the medical insurance trade that he believes is liable for widespread struggling in America. “Sure, I condemn homicide,” Moore wrote, “and that’s why I condemn America’s damaged, vile, rapacious, bloodthirsty, unethical, immoral well being care trade and I condemn each one of many CEOs who’re in command of it.”
The filmmaker additional remarked on the rising public anger towards insurance coverage firms, which he described as “utterly justified.” Moore made it clear that he wouldn’t shrink back from stoking that anger. “It’s not new. It has been boiling. And I’m not going to tamp it down or ask individuals to close up. I wish to pour gasoline on that anger,” he added.
Mangione, who was arrested Monday in Altoona, Pennsylvania, is accused of killing Thompson after allegedly harboring deep frustrations with the insurance coverage large. The killing occurred as Thompson was strolling to a convention in Manhattan. Authorities discovered Mangione in possession of a number of pretend IDs, a US passport, and writings in regards to the insurance coverage trade, together with the manifesto that praised Moore’s vital work on healthcare.
Within the manifesto, Mangione wrote, “Frankly I don’t fake to be probably the most certified individual to put out the complete argument. However many have illuminated the corruption and greed (e.g.: Rosenthal, Moore), a long time in the past and the issues merely stay.”
Moore, recognized for different impactful documentaries like Bowling for Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11, known as out insurance coverage executives in his submit, accusing them of inflicting hurt akin to the terrorists behind 9/11. “These insurance coverage firms and their executives have extra blood on their arms than a thousand 9/11 terrorists,” Moore declared. “And that’s why they’re scrubbing their executives’ profiles from their web sites and placing up fences round their headquarters. As a result of they know what they’ve performed.”
