Not only Luigi Mangione, the suspected killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson but now the woman who has been branded as the first Luigi Mangione copycat has raised over $25K for her legal defense. The Florida woman, Briana Boston, was arrested after she said “delay, deny, depose, you people are next” over a phone call with her health insurance company Blue Cross Blue Shield. Since these words were similar to the chilling words engraved on the shell casings of the bullet used to murder Brian Thompson, the insurance company called the police and the woman was arrested.
Boston’s arrest led to a social media debate as to why she was arrested for just making threats over the phone. It was also argued why she was called Luigi Mangione’s copycat as she did not kill anyone.
On the other hand, some social media users exclaimed about the amount of money pouring on such people and how they are being portrayed as heroes. “Raising $25k for threatening people over healthcare? Just goes to show how wild the times have gotten,” one wrote.
Social media users exclaimed that Briana Boston is a nuclear medicine technologist and mother of three and she was not going to kill anyone. But after her arrest, she told the police that she was inspired by the news cycle, The healthcare companies play games and deserve karma because they are evil, she said.
Briana Boston was charged with threats to conduct a mass shooting or act of terrorism and faces up to 15 years behind bars. As of now, she is not in jail.
The fundraising campaign said that Briana is no longer physically incarcerated but her legal status has not changed. “Briana continues to be amazed and overwhelmed by the support from around the world; it is greatly appreciated and we cannot give enough thanks,” the fundraising campaign says.
What happens to such defense funds
Generally, if such funds are not used for the purpose, they are reimbursed to the donors. However, it is not clear what Luigi Mangione or Briana Boston would do with their funds. Mangione raised $115,000 by Sunday but his defense team was not sure whether to accept the funds.
