MORALITY PLAY

Viewers Baffled By Contrasting Cable News Takes to Penny Acquittal and UnitedHealth Suspect’s Arrest

“Two killers. Both bad guys,” tweeted journalist Victoria Brownworth in reply to a CNN segment where a conservative commentator called Daniel Penny the “good guy.”

On Monday night’s broadcast of The Ingraham Angle, Fox News host Laura Ingraham took less than 30 seconds to condemn support for one alleged vigilante killer and offer up that another is being called a “hero.”

“The Instagram posts from nutbag people, which I was sent in the commercial break earlier: crazy,” she said, of online support for Luigi Mangione, who was charged with murder in connection with the killing of UnitedHealth Care CEO Brian Thompson on Monday. “Like he’s cute and this and people celebrating this, this is a sickness. Honestly it’s so disappointing, but I guess we shouldn’t be surprised.”

The host then immediately teed up the next segment to follow a commercial break: “Up next, the other big news out of New York, Daniel Penny. A lot of people think he’s a hero and tonight he’s not guilty.”

Penny, a former Marine, was acquitted Monday of criminally negligent homicide in the death of Jordan Neely, a homeless Black man who died after Penny restrained him in a chokehold for several minutes last year.

Penny told police investigators he was not trying to harm Neely, but only restrain someone who was yelling at passengers on a New York subway train.

The casual juxtaposition of the two cases by the conservative host—with black-and-white morality assigned to each—stunned some observers on X.

“This is an incredible 28 seconds,” observed Prem Thakker, a reporter at Zeteo News.

“Usually you’d at least have to edit together two clips for something like this,” said Chase Mitchell, a television writer and former The Tonight Show staffer.

CULTURE WARS CASE

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When she did return from a break, Ingraham celebrated the Penny acquittal as “very good news” and a sign that “hope is not lost in New York.”

She referred to Neely, who had a history of mental illness, as a “menacing lunatic.”

Hers was not the only cable news segment that raised eyebrows.

Republican political strategist Scott Jennings brought a hand-drawn chart to a CNN panel, indicating that Penny was the “good guy” and Mangione the “bad guy.”

“Two killers. Both bad guys,” tweeted journalist Victoria Brownworth in reply.

Jennings went on to state he thinks New York City should build a statue of Penny in his honor.

While conservative commentators valorized Penny and celebrated his acquittal, Neely’s family and members of the Black community were in mourning.

The NAACP slammed the acquittal for setting “a dangerous precedent by embracing vigilantism and disregarding the sanctity of human life.”

“The acquittal of Daniel Penny in the murder of Jordan Neely is a painful reminder of a long-standing reality: vigilante violence against Black people often goes unchecked,” said Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA), in a tweet. “Jordan deserved compassion, not violence. We stand with his loved ones in demanding accountability.”

Neely’s father, Andre Zachery, said he had no confidence in the justice system.

“I just want to say I miss my son,” he told reporters, standing outside a Manhattan courthouse Monday. “My son didn’t have to go through this. I didn’t have to go through this either. It hurts. It really, really hurts. I had enough of this, the system is rigged.”

While celebrating Penny for restraining Neely, Ingraham and Jennings ignored that the preponderance of commentary about Thompson’s murder has focused on the practices of private American health insurance firms like the one he led.

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Outrage has come from Americans who have experienced friends or loved ones being denied coverage, something that can be bankrupting or even fatal.

In the past week, some right-wing political commentators, like Ben Shapiro, have even been mocked by their own conservative viewers, who also have concerns about the state of American health care.

“Thank goodness the killer of a poor schizophrenic black man is free and the killer of a wealthy white death merchant is in custody,” David Klion, a contributing editor to Jewish Currents, morbidly joked about the celebration of Penny’s acquittal.

Klion added: “I’m taking a shot at the many, many conservatives who do in fact think Penny is a hero and also think it’s disgusting that anyone would celebrate a CEO’s death. But [for what it’s worth] I actually do think vigilante killings are bad in general.”

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