The cases of Daniel Penny and Luigi Mangione are not the same, and neither deserves to be equated to the other.
Daniel Penny is a Marine who defended a subway car full of people from a violent unstable homeless man flailing around, screaming that he would kill everyone and didn’t care if he went to jail.
Luigi Mangione, who appears to have gone through a complete mental breakdown after being laid off, after an unsuccessful back surgery following a surfing incident, and prolonged psychedelic use, allegedly murdered Brian Thompson, the CEO of United Healthcare, after writing an anti-capitalist manifesto of perceived wrongs.
Daniel Penny was acquitted after being charged with homicide for restraining a violent man. The jury ruled that Penny did not attempt to ruthlessly murder some random black man as the prosecution claimed. He is a hero for defending those around him from immediate danger.
Brian Thompson was murdered because one mentally unwell individual decided his position in a company marked him for death. His killer is no hero.
The American Revolution was a war fought against direct, observable actions of tyranny, for a list of well-defined, unalienable rights endowed by the Creator.
The French Revolution, and later Marxist and Socialist revolutions, were fought against any accused of perceived ills because of status, race, religion, wealth, education, i.e. the haves, for the “have nots.” In every one of these mob-rule revolutions, the haves are always eventually defined as any person who has anything the lowest “have not” doesn’t.
Daniel Penny’s case was one of the common defense in the pursuit of rights, whereas the murder of the United Healthcare CEO was a class Marxian “have” versus the “have not” style murder.
They are not the same.
