Washington Examiner columnist Joe Concha said Wednesday that the recent dismissal of state terrorism charges against Luigi Mangione is bad news for bringing down the political temperature, saying the United States will “absolutely” see more political violence after this.
Judge Gregory Carro tossed the terrorism charges against Mangione, the 27-year-old suspect accused of killing United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, on Tuesday. Concha said Mangione’s legal win was celebrated by “young people” outside his court appearance.
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“I saw one video of a girl who said that she was actually engaged to the AI version of Luigi Mangione, who again, just a couple blocks from where we are at Fox, was gunned down from behind by, that was Brian Thompson, the United Healthcare CEO, was gunned down by Luigi Mangione in the back,” Concha said on Fox & Friends First.
Mangione’s legal victory comes less than a week after Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk was killed on Sept. 10. Utah County prosecutors filed seven felony charges against Tyler Robinson, Kirk’s 22-year-old accused killer, on Tuesday.
“So as long as we have this assassination culture and these almost-permission slips to do these things, if the cause is right, if whether you disagree with the healthcare system like Luigi Mangione, or Robinson, who disagreed with Charlie just based on opinion? You can’t help but think with social media and the education system and the fact that we have gaming, which is becoming like a bigger problem because people are seeing others as ‘avatars’ instead of actual human beings, I think this gets worse before it gets better,” Concha said.
Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Monday that he is “very, very upset” over Kirk’s assassination. He also said people need to “acknowledge” that social media companies, legacy media, and political parties are “dividing us.”
Concha praised Schwarzenegger’s speech, saying he looked “authentic” in his worry about the future.
Concha also recalled his wife suggesting that younger people may have been “programmed” during the COVID-19 pandemic to only communicate with people online. He questioned whether young people can detox from the internet and social media when both are central to young people’s lives.