Last week two men emerged from the news as heroes of a sort—Daniel Penny, found not guilty of negligent homicide in subduing mentally deranged Jordan Neely in a New York subway car, and Luigi Mangione, the alleged killer of insurance executive Brian Thompson. It’s right to think of Mr. Penny as a hero, although one should also be aghast at the circumstances which contributed to the death of his alleged victim. It is absolutely obscene to think that whoever killed the insurance executive is anything other than a cold-blooded killer, worthy of nothing more than lifetime incarceration, whether in a prison or in a mental institution. Both killings reflect the need for major social reforms.
In a moving subway car, there is little opportunity to escape the dangers posed by a passenger bent on committing violence against the other passengers, and few riders would have the means of resisting one who, for whatever reason, was threatening their safety. Mr. Penny, who had served in the Marines, was an exception. When Mr. Neely began to rant and rave about killing people, Mr. Penny, to protect his fellow passengers, put him in a chokehold, and, with the help of other passengers, subdued him.
But Mr. Neely died. Prosecutors said he died of the chokehold. Part of Mr. Penny’s defense was that Mr. Neely was on other drugs which made him violent and may have killed him. The jury in the case sided with Mr. Penny. He’s been declared a hero by those who believe he stopped a threat to the safety of his fellow subway riders and may even have saved their lives.
But the outcome of the case has been denounced by those who see Mr. Penny as the villain of the piece. No doubt many of the protests are race-based: Mr. Penny is white, Mr. Neely was Black. Mr. Neely died, while Mr Penny walks. Did Mr. Neely’s life really matter?
Actually, those angered by the outcome of the case should direct their anger not at Mr. Penny or the jurors who acquitted him, but at those who allowed Mr. Neely to walk free and assault others rather than subject him to the psychiatric treatment he desperately needed. For too long, brain dead liberals and penny-pinching conservatives alike have supported deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill, either because they think it’s more compassionate to let them roam freely or cheaper to abandon them. In 1916, when Calvin Coolidge was running for Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts, he called for a tax increase to help finance social welfare programs. He said, “Our party will have no part in a scheme of economy which adds to the misery of the wards of the Commonwealth—the sick, the insane and the unfortunate—those who are too weak even to protest. Because I know these conditions, I know a Republican administration would face an increasing state tax rather than not see them remedied.” Liberals and conservatives, Democrats and Republicans, should be like Calvin.
But those who do not see Mr. Penny as a hero are nonetheless relatively rational, at least compared to those who lionize Luigi Mangione, the alleged killer of Brian Thompson But the same cannot be said for a growing portion of the general public, who see Mr. Mangione as a folk hero, a sort of Robin Hood, striking a blow for justice against the insurance industry and for the insured. Social media memes glorify him. Wanted posters featuring other insurance executives have gone up. Stores sell merchandise, such as jackets like the one he wore at the time of the killing, and shirts with his likeness or words on them. Crowdfunding has produced $100,000 to help finance his defense. Lost in this outpouring of moral filth is any sympathy for the victim himself—a husband and father, but someone whose life Mr. Mangione’s worshippers obviously believe truly did not matter.
It remains to be seen what defense, if any, Mr. Mangione can offer, given the recording of the shooting and the other evidence being collected against him. The new attorney he’s hired to represent him has speculated on the possibility of an insanity defense. We’ll see. But the real insanity rests with those who would regard as a hero someone who shoots and kills another in what seems to be cold blood.
But what abuses allegedly committed by the health insurance industry itself, which the crazies supporting Mr. Mangione have cited to justify his alleged actions? Progressive lawmakers, including Congresswoman AOC and Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, have been criticized for stressing the need for industry reform rather than denouncing Brian Thompson’s alleged killer. But at least the lawmakers have condemned the use of violence, which is more than Mangione’s worshippers have done. And the lawmakers do have a point: As with the treatment of the mentally ill like Jordan Neely, reform of the health insurance industry is needed. Whether there is sufficient will to enact reforms is an open question. But if the efforts are not made, the situation will only get worse.
Malcolm L. Cross has lived in Stephenville since 1987 and taught politics and government at Tarleton for 36 years, retiring in 2023. His political and civic activities include service on the Stephenville City Council (2000-2014) and on the Erath County Republican Executive Committee (1990-2024). He was Mayor pro-tem of Stephenville from 2008 to 2014. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Stephenville
Economic Development Authority since 2018 and as chair of the Erath County Appraisal District’s Appraisal Review Board since 2015. He is also a member of the Stephenville Rotary Club, the Board of Vestry of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, and the Executive Committee of the Boy Scouts’ Pecan Valley District. Views expressed in this column are his and do not reflect those of The Flash as a whole.
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