A professor at the University of Pennsylvania reportedly described Luigi Mangione, the suspected killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, as an “icon” in a now-deleted social media post.
Julia Alekseyeva, an assistant professor of English and Cinema & Media Studies at the Ivy League school and self-described “socialist,” posted a video to TikTok of her smiling as the song “Do You Hear the People Sing?” from the musical “Les Misérables” played, according to a report from the New York Post. Alekseyeva, who goes by “The Soviette” on social media, deleted the post after backlash.
“Have never been prouder to be a professor at the University of P3nnsylvania (sic),” reads the caption on the deleted post, referencing the fact that Mangione was an alumnus.
The professor, who styles herself as a “socialist and ardent anti-fascist” on her website, also described Mangione as “the icon we all need and deserve” on her Instagram profile.
Photo: TikTok/TheSoviette
Mangione, 26, is accused of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson as he was walking to an investor’s conference outside a Manhattan hotel on December 4.
Surveillance footage shows the killer, believed to be Mangione, shooting Thompson twice in the back before fleeing on an electric bike. Mangione was arrested in western Pennsylvania earlier this week after a nearly week-long manhunt that spanned multiple states.
Alekseyeva’s posts generated outrage among critics and a number of University of Pennsylvania students after they were posted to X by the popular Libs Of TikTok account.
“UPenn professor Julia Alekseyeva celebrates the alleged UnitedHealthcare CEO’s assassin and that the murderer attended UPenn. To anyone wondering how America’s youth becomes so radical to murder someone, it is because of the extremist professors,” UPenn graduate Eyal Yakoby wrote in an X post. He went on to note that Alekseyeva has a history of promoting radical ideology and action on campus.
“This is absolutely ridiculous. Her teaching students is how we get to a Luigi Mangione,” Yakoby added in a separate post.
https://x.com/EYakoby/status/1866506642977611970?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1866506642977611970%7Ctwgr%5Ec00f1a86cb2f6fe92383b6136e31671efa51bfe0%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftrendingpoliticsnews.com%2Fivy-league-professor-describes-healthcare-ceo-killer-as-an-icon-cmc%2F
The professor has since deleted the posts and set her Instagram account to private.
