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New York, US:
Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old Ivy League graduate who is a “strong person of interest” in the Manhattan killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, was reportedly carrying a manifesto railing against “corporate America” at the time of his arrest. The two-page handwritten document criticized the healthcare industry for putting profits above care and suggested that violence is the answer, according to senior law enforcement officials.
“I do apologize for any strife and trauma, but it had to be done,” a police official who has seen the document told CNN.
In the note, Mangione said he acted alone and that he was self-funded. “These parasites had it coming,” it added.
The document also included a screed against the healthcare industry, with Mangione lamenting the costs of healthcare, asking why the United States has the most expensive healthcare in the world but is rated poorly for life expectancy.
The US reportedly ranked 49 in life expectancy in 2022, per a report by the Associated Press story from August 2007. However, the country is expected to drop to 66th position globally in 2050, according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.
While the motive of Thompson’s killing is still unknown, reports suggest Mangione’s alleged actions could have been a political act. If Mangione is found guilty of Thompson’s murder, the manifesto would be the second message from him. Earlier, it was found that the killer engraved ‘Deny, defend, depose’ on the casings of the bullet used in the UnitedHealthcare CEO’s killing.
Luigi Mangione’s Arrest
In addition to the manifesto, Mangione was also found carrying a gun, and a silencer, among other items at the time of his arrest in an Altoona, Pennsylvania, McDonald’s. He has been charged with possession of an illegal weapon, forgery and other crimes in Pennsylvania after being arrested at a McDonald’s on Monday morning.
Mangione was caught after an employee at the fast-food chain recognized him and alerted the police. “He was sitting there eating,” The Guardian reported Joseph Kenny, the New York City police department’s chief of detectives as saying.
He was reportedly found carrying identification with his name on it, along with a fake New Jersey ID – the same that police believe the gunman showed when he checked into a hostel on the Upper West Side of Manhattan on 24 November after Thompson’s murder.
In last Wednesday’s shooting, the gunman walked up behind Brian Thompson, a senior executive at UnitedHealthcare — one of the country’s largest medical insurers — and shot him dead in front of bystanders. The attack was captured by a surveillance camera and the footage seen by millions around the world as interest in the manhunt and mystery over the killer’s motives built to a frenzy.
After his arrest, Mangione was presented at Pennsylvania court on Tuesday, where he was arraigned. He is next due to appear in court on December 23.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro said that murder charges in New York state would follow, telling a media briefing “We do not kill people in cold blood to resolve policy differences or express a viewpoint.”
About Luigi Mangione
Mangione social media presence shows that he belongs to a well-to-do family. Per his LinkedIn page, he has a bachelor’s and master’s degree in science engineering from the University of Pennsylvania. The claims were confirmed by a university spokesperson.
The suspect was reportedly born and raised in Maryland and has lived in San Francisco and Honolulu. As per The Guardian report, he was a valedictorian at Gilman High School in 2016, where he had expressed his desire to study at the University of Pennsylvania.
CNN reported that Mangione is the grandson of Nicholas Mangione, a prominent Baltimore real estate developer. The Mangione family reportedly owns Lorien Health Systems, a nursing home chain in Maryland, where the suspect volunteered in 2014, according to his LinkedIn page.
According to a New York Times report citing friends of Mangione, he lived with serious back pain and underwent surgery for the condition last year.
A photo on what appeared to be one of his social media accounts included an X-ray of an apparently injured spine.
His family released a joint statement late Monday saying they are “shocked and devastated by Luigi’s arrest.”
