One person has been arrested and charged in connection with the murder of United Healthcare chief executive Brian Thompson who was gunned down in front of hotel in Manhattan, in the US on December 4.

Instead of the usual outpour of anger from citizens, Thompson's death was celebrated, with netizens (social media users) saying the businessman was responsible for the preventable deaths of possibly hundreds of thousands as the healthcare company had a high number of denial of claims.

The words 'deny' 'depose' and 'defend' were carved into bullets and shot casings left at the scene netizens noted.

The killer was deemed an anti-hero (a central character in a story, who lacks conventional heroic attributes) dubbed 'The Adjuster' online and praised for standing up to the capitalist machine in the US.

Now, authorities claim they have caught a suspect that fits the description of The Adjuster, 26-year-old Luigi Mangione.

Mangione is now in police custody in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on unrelated charges.

According to ABC News, the Ivy League graduate has been charged with five felonies, including carrying a gun without a licence, forgery, falsely identifying himself to police, and possession of 'instruments of crime.'

The charge document also reportedly claims that Mangione lied to authorities about his identification and carried the ghost firearm without a licence.

According to reports, Mangione stepped off a Greyhound bus in Altoona on Monday morning, December 9 and strolled into a McDonald's restaurant.

There he was spotted by a witness who said they recognised him from the suspect photographs disseminated by police.

Mangione is said to have been seated and eating when a McDonald's employee reported him, according to New York City Mayor Eric Adams at a news conference on Monday afternoon.

"He matches the description of the person we are looking for," said Adams.

Mangione has come as a blow to netizens who do not believe the authorities have the right man.

"Luigi Mangione's lawyer should put the entire health insurance industry on trial and argue that Mangione was defending the public from a predatory CEO who profited off killing and bankrupting people," posted one such supporter on X (Twitter)

IOL

#forgery

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