Relatives of Luigi Mangione, who has been arrested and charged with the murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, took to social media to offer prayers for the victim of the family. Mangione is implicated in the high-profile murder of Thompson, who was gunned down in Midtown, Manhattan December 4th. The investigation into the killing is ongoing.
Nino Mangione, Luigi’s cousin who serves as a republican delegate in Maryland, stated on Facebook “Unfortunately, we cannot comment on news reports regarding Luigi Mangione. We only know what we have read in the media.” He went on to explain “Our family is shocked and devastated by Luigi’s arrest. We offer our prayers to the family of Brian Thompson, and we ask people to pray for all involved. We are devastated by this news.”
According to Luigi’s friends and family, he ceased regular contact roughly 6 months ago. R.J. Martin, who lived near Mangione, explained how a recent health setback may have affected the shooter’s mental state. “His spine was kind of misaligned… He said his lower vertebrae were almost like a half inch off, and I think it pinched a nerve.”
He hypothesizes that this injury would have driven Luigi Mangione to commit the public slaying. “[Luigi] knew that dating and being physically intimate with his back condition wasn’t possible,” Martin said. “I remember him telling me that, and my heart just breaks.” While those close to him have speculated about the motivation, what little information we have comes from the shooter’s manifesto.”
When he was arrested in Pennsylvania, Mangione was found with a weapon that appeared to match the footage of the shooting. He also was in possession of a fake ID and a manifesto criticizing the healthcare industry. Brian Thompson served as the UnitedHealthcare CEO from April 2021 until his murder. UnitedHealthcare is the insurance arm of UnitedHealth Group and a major player in the healthcare market.
In this handwritten document, Mangione appears to take credit for the murder. “To save you a lengthy investigation, I state plainly that I wasn’t working with anyone.” In the 262-page screed, he points out how companies like UnitedHealthcare “…abuse our country for immense profit because the American public has allowed them to get away with it.”
Internet sleuths quickly found Mangione’s other writing. Luigi Mangione had a GoodReads account where he posted book reviews. In addition to 295 other books, the suspect left a review for the Unabomber’s manifesto. “It’s easy to quickly and thoughtlessly write this off as the manifesto of a lunatic, in order to avoid facing some of the uncomfortable problems it identifies. But it’s simply impossible to ignore how prescient many of his predictions about modern society turned out.”
With the benefit of hindsight, his review takes on a chilling tone. “When all other forms of communication fail, violence is necessary to survive. .. Peaceful protest is outright ignored, economic protest isn’t possible in the current system, so how long until we recognize that violence against those who lead us to such destruction is justified as self-defense.”