New York City Mayor Eric Adams is calling attention to something "happening below the surface" in young people following UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson's murder in the Big Apple earlier this month.
"There's something that's happening below the surface with our young people," Adams told anchor Martha MacCallum during an exclusive interview on "The Story."
Adams referred specifically to Luigi Mangione, an Ivy League grad student charged with murder in Thompson's killing, as well as 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow, who killed two and wounded six in a Wisconsin school shooting before she died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
"Not only the assassination... of Brian, but also look what happened on our school grounds. You had a young girl that went in and took the life of innocent people," Adams said.
"When you look at what's happening on social media, and that is the real problem, because young people, we've always pushed back when we were youthful on government. But with social media and the proliferation of hate, of anger, suicide rates increased – suicidal ideation, the increase in depression."
Mangione, a private high-school and Ivy League-educated young professional from the Baltimore area, is charged with multiple counts in both Pennsylvania and New York in the fatal ambush shooting of Thompson.
Since his arrest, internet sleuths have been digging through Mangione's vast and documented social media presence, with many users praising the murder suspect for allegedly killing Thompson, who was a married father of two originally from a small town in Iowa.
MADISON, WISCONSIN, SCHOOL SHOOTING LEAVES 2 DEAD, 6 INJURED; JUVENILE SUSPECT DEAD
Natalie Rupnow, 15, was identified as the shooter who opened fire inside a study hall inside Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin Monday. She killed a teacher and teen student, leaving six others wounded, according to authorities. Responding officers found Rupnow with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. She died on the way to a hospital.
Adams had previously said during a press conference Monday that "our children are being radicalized to hate America, to hate the country that put them where they are."
The NYC mayor elaborated on the idea with MacCallum, warning "if we don't take a serious look at it, [what] is lurking in our basements, our bathrooms, in their bedrooms. If we don't take a look at it and have a real approach to it, we're going to be in trouble."
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Fox News' Stephen Sorace, Stepheny Price and Audrey Conklin contributed to this report.