Is the public's support of Luigi Mangione a symptom of empathy fatigue?

This week, Pennsylvania police arrested a person of interest, Luigi Mangione, in connection with the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Instead of a majority of the public applauding the end of a multi-day manhunt where an alleged murderer was on the loose, the McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania — where he was arrested — has been flooded with negative reviews with people vaguely complaining about “rats.” The sequence of events encapsulates a broader trend that has emerged since the death of the health insurance CEO: people expressing a lack of sympathy for Thompson, and instead hailing the alleged killer as a folk hero. Is the public’s reaction to Thompson’s killing a reflection of Americans reportedly struggling with empathy, or could it be a symptom of empathy fatigue, specifically as a consequence of America’s for-profit health care system? “What looks like an empathy crisis toward a specific person might actually reflect the public’s moral judgments about who deserves empathy.” Konrath added it’s possible for people to have compassion for both, but empathy often gets applied to those “in need, more than those with power.” From this perspective, it makes sense that in an ever more polarized society, many people are out of patience with being asked to have compassion and empathy for someone like Thompson, who represents a vastly unequal system in which health care is not a human right. “On a symbolic level, many people see Thompson as a representative of the unfeeling, avaricious corporate culture, and, if they cannot detangle Thompson as an individual — a loving father and husband — from his role as a high-earning CEO for a major insurance company, they may herald the murderer as a ‘force of good.’” Manly pointed out this isn’t the first time frustrated people and masses have taken deadly action against those who symbolize privilege.