Jan 9, 2025 - Politics & Policy

Exclusive: Young Americans sympathize more with CEO shooting suspect than victim

Erica Pandey

Illustration of crime scene tape forming a speech bubble. — Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios

A new poll of college students found that half view the suspect in UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson's recent killing extremely or somewhat favorably, and nearly half believe the crime was justified.

81% of the students polled by Generation Lab said they have an extremely or somewhat negative view of Thompson, the victim.

Why it matters: There's a stark divide between how young people and older people view Thompson's killing. Polls and social media posts indicate that, among young people, there's lasting support for and fascination with a suspected killer — and disdain for the victim.

By the numbers: When asked with whom they sympathize more, 45% of respondents chose suspect Luigi Mangione, 17% chose Thompson, and 37% said neither.

48% said they view the killing as totally or somewhat justified.
Those findings chime with an Emerson College poll which found that 41% of voters under 30 found the killing "acceptable," far more than in any other age group.

Methodology: This poll was conducted December 19–23 from a representative sample of 1,026 college students nationwide from 2-year and 4-year schools. The margin of error is +/- 3.4 percentage points. The Generation Lab conducts polling using a demographically representative sample frame of college students at community colleges, technical colleges, trade schools and public and private four-year institutions.

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Exclusive: Young Americans sympathize more with CEO shooting suspect than victim

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