Luigi Mangione, a 26-year-old Ivy League graduate, has been charged with the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson by the New York Prosecutor’s Office.
Mangione has also been charged in Pennsylvania with possession of an illegal weapon, forgery and other crimes after being arrested at a McDonald’s on Monday morning.
Thompson’s murder on a midtown Manhattan street in broad daylight shocked many Americans, but also unleashed a torrent of outrage against the profit-driven American healthcare industry. Many people shared personal stories of terrible experiences online, while others applauded Mangione and even called him a hero.
In a press conference held this Monday, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro attributed the arrest of Mangione, who was on the run since the shooting of Thompson last Wednesday, to the attention paid to the case. But he also condemned the Internet response that Mangione’s alleged actions have sparked. Shapiro said, after assuring that he understood that people are frustrated with the American healthcare system: “We don’t kill people in cold blood to resolve political differences or express a point of view.”
“In some dark corners, this killer is being hailed as a hero,” Shapiro said: “Listen to me: He is not a hero. “The real hero of this story is the person who called 911 at the McDonald’s.”
Although the motive for the shooting is still unknown, early indications suggest that Mangione’s alleged actions may have had a political undertone. In addition to carrying a gun, a silencer and other items, Mangione was found to be in possession of a three-page handwritten “manifesto” criticizing health insurance companies for putting profits before health care, according to senior officials. of the police forces.
On the first page of the document, it said, according to CNN: “These parasites deserved it. “I apologize for the inconvenience and trauma, but it had to be done.”
The document also indicated that Mangione was self-financing and acting alone. The second page included an allegation against the health sector. In it, Mangione lamented the costs of healthcare and wondered why the United States has the most expensive healthcare in the world, and at the same time, is poorly ranked in life expectancy.
The US ranked 42nd in life expectancy in 2007, and 49th in 2022. However, according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, the country is expected to drop to 66th in the world by 2050.
Mangione was arrested at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, for forgery after he provided police with a fake ID, authorities said at a news conference Monday night. Police arrived at the fast food chain after Mangione was identified by an employee who recognized him.
“He was sitting there eating,” Joseph Kenny, chief of detectives for the New York Police Department, said at Monday afternoon’s news conference.
Mangione was found carrying identification with his name on it, along with a fake New Jersey ID, the same one he showed when he checked into a hostel on Manhattan’s Upper West Side on November 24.
According to his LinkedIn page, the suspect is listed as having a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Scientific Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania.
A university spokesperson confirmed to The Guardian that Mangione had earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering and a master’s degree in engineering at the university.
His LinkedIn page also indicates that he is employed as a data engineer for TrueCar, Inc, where he has worked since 2020. In a statement, TrueCar, Inc told The Guardian that Mangione had not been with the company since 2023. “While generally “We do not comment on personnel matters, we can confirm that Luigi Mangione has not been an employee of our company since 2023,” they said.
The UPenn graduate, now in custody, arrived in Altoona on a Greyhound bus, according to the New York Times. He is also believed to have taken a Greyhound when he arrived in New York 10 days before the shooting.
Mangione graduated from Gilman High School in 2016, where he had expressed his desire to study at the University of Pennsylvania. He was cited as a video game enthusiast and joined the university’s video game club.
Based on the suspect’s social media presence, he appears to have been an active user until May or June 2024, before his activity decreased. He was also particularly active on Goodreads, where he liked quotes in the unabomberTed Kaczynski.
Mangione was born and raised in Maryland, and has lived in San Francisco and Honolulu. He has no arrest record in New York.
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