Free Luigi

A billboard in New York City. Amid biting winds and blustering streaks of snow, a group of autonomous activists projected a large and saintly illustration of accused UnitedHealthcare CEO shooter Luigi Mangione on a Lower Manhattan building Thursday evening, February 20, calling for a fair trial ahead of Mangione’s court appearance on Friday afternoon. Having pled not guilty to 11 state charges of murder and terrorism days after his extradition to New York late last December, Mangione is set to appear in state court today for what should be a routine status check on the case.

Emblazoned in the center of the enormous projection at the intersection of Canal and Lafayette Streets, the words “Free Luigi” have been chanted, inscribed, grafittied, meme’d, and commercialized worldwide. Prior to Mangione’s arrest in Altoona, Pennsylvania, UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s shooting ignited fervent conversations about exorbitant medical care costs, the exasperation and desperation around denied claims, and the ethics of health insurance companies determining what constitutes necessary patient care.