Is he a hero? A killer? Both?
About the same time the #FreeLuigi memes featuring the mustachioed plumber from “Super Mario Brothers” mushroomed online this week, commenters shared memes showing Tony Soprano pronouncing Luigi Mangione, the man charged with murdering the UnitedHealthcare CEO in Manhattan, a hero. The posts were lionizing Mangione’s physique and appearance, the ones speculating about who could play him on “Saturday Night Live,” and the ones denouncing and even threatening people at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s for spotting him and calling police.
It was all too much for Pennsylvania’s governor, a rising Democrat who was nearly the vice presidential nominee this year. Josh Shapiro — who was dealing with a case somewhere else that happened to land in his lap — decried what he saw as growing support for “vigilante justice.”
As with so many American events at this moment in the 21st century, the curious case of Brian Thompson and Luigi Mangione has both captivated and polarized a media-saturated nation.
The saga offers a glimpse into how, in a connected world, so many different aspects of modern American life can be surreally linked — from public violence to politics, from health care to humor (or attempts at it).
And it summons a question, too: How can so many people consider someone a hero when the rules that govern American society — the law — are treating him as the complete opposite?
He’s being cast as a romantic figure
Mangione is in a Pennsylvania jail cell as he awaits extradition to New York on murder charges. Little new information is available about a possible motive, though writings found in Mangione’s possession hinted at a vague hatred of corporate greed and an expression of anger toward “parasitic” health insurance companies.
That detail came after earlier clues showed some bullets recovered from the scene had the words “deny,” “defend” and “depose,” reflecting words used by insurance industry critics. A number of the posts combine an apparent disdain for health insurers – with no mention of the loss of life – with a vague attempt at what some called humor.
“He took action against private health insurance corporations is what he did. he was a brave Italian martyr. in this house, Luigi Mangione is a hero, end of story!” one anonymous person said in a post on X that has nearly 2 million views.
On Monday, Shapiro took issue with comments like those. It was an extraordinary moment that he tumbled into simply because Mangione was apprehended in Pennsylvania. Shapiro’s comments — pointed, impassioned, and, inevitably, political — yanked the conversation unfolding on so many people’s phone screens into real life.
“We do not kill people in cold blood to resolve policy differences or express a viewpoint,” the governor said. “In a civil society, we are all less safe when ideologues engage in vigilante justice.”
But to hear some of his fellow citizens tell it, that’s not the case at all. Like Bonnie and Clyde, John Dillinger, D.B. Cooper, and other notorious names from the American past, Mangione is being cast as someone to admire.
More like domestic terrorism than vigilantism?
Regina Bateson, an assistant political science professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder, has studied vigilantism, the term to which Shapiro alluded. She doesn’t see this case as a good fit for the word, she says, because the victim wasn’t linked to any specific crime or offense. As she sees it, it’s more akin to domestic terrorism.
But Bateson views the threats against election workers, prosecutors, and judges ticking up — plus the assassination attempts against President-elect Donald Trump this past summer — as possible signs that personal grievances or political agendas could erupt. “Americans are voicing more support for — or at least understanding of — political violence,” she said.
Shapiro, apparently fed up with the embrace of the killing, praised the police and the people of Blair County, who abided by a 9/11-era dictum of seeing something and saying something. The commenters have Mangione wrong, the governor said: “Hear me on this: He is no hero. The real hero in this story is the person who called 911 at McDonald’s this morning.”
Even shy of supporting violence, there are many instances of people who vent over how health insurers deny claims. Consider Tim Anderson, whose wife, Mary, dealt with UnitedHealthcare coverage denials before she died from Lou Gehrig’s disease in 2022. “The business model for insurance is don’t pay,” Anderson, 67, of Centerville, Ohio, told The Associated Press.
The discourse around the killing and Mangione is more than just memes. Conversations about the interconnectedness of various parts of American life are unfolding online as well, propelled by the saga. One Reddit user said he was banned for three days for supporting Kyle Rittenhouse, who was acquitted after testifying he acted in self-defense when he fatally shot two people in 2020 during protests. “Do you think people are getting banned for supporting Luigi?” the poster wondered.
The comments cover a lot of ground. They include people saying the UnitedHealthcare slaying isn’t a “right or left issue” and wondering what it would take to get knocked off the platform.
“You probably just have to cross the line over into promoting violence,” one commenter wrote. “Not just laughing about how you don’t care about this guy.”
Taken together, the comments make one thing clear: The case — and now Mangione himself — have captured the American imagination, at least for the moment. And when that happens in a nation of phones and memes, a lot of people are going to have opinions — from anonymous commenters on Reddit to the governor of Pennsylvania himself.
The gun found on the man charged with killing United Healthcare’s CEO matched shell casings found at the site of the shooting, New York City’s police commissioner said Wednesday as authorities scrutinized evidence and the suspect’s experiences with the victim’s industry.
Luigi Mangione’s fingerprints also matched a water bottle and a snack bar wrapper that police found near the scene in midtown Manhattan, Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at an unrelated news conference. Police had said earlier that they believed the gunman bought the items at a nearby coffee shop while awaiting his target.
Mangione, 26, remained jailed without bail Wednesday in Pennsylvania, where he was arrested and initially charged with gun and forgery offenses. Manhattan prosecutors were working to bring him to New York to face a murder charge in the death of Brian Thompson, the leader of the United States’ biggest health insurer.
Mangione’s lawyer has cautioned the public against prejudging the case.
While the case is in its early stages, police believe the suspect may have been motivated by animus toward the healthcare industry.
Investigators are looking into an accident that injured Mangione’s back and sent him to an emergency room on July 4, 2023, police said Wednesday. They’re scrutinizing his Facebook page, where he posted X-rays of numerous screws that were inserted into his spine. And police are studying his writings about the injury and his disdain for corporate America and the U.S. healthcare system.
Authorities recovered a spiral notebook that Mangione kept, along with a three-page, handwritten letter found when he was arrested Monday in Pennsylvania, a law enforcement official said Wednesday. Police have not disclosed what was in the notebook.
The letter teased the possibility that clues to the attack — “some straggling notes and Do lists that illuminate the gist of it” — could be found in the notebook, the law enforcement official said. The official wasn’t authorized to disclose information about the investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
A law enforcement bulletin obtained by the AP earlier this week said the letter disdained corporate greed and what Mangione called “parasitic” health insurance companies. The prep school and Ivy League graduate wrote that the U.S. has the most expensive healthcare system in the world and that major corporations’ profits continue to rise while life expectancy doesn’t, according to the bulletin.
In his first public words since his arrest, Mangione shouted about an “insult to the intelligence of the American people” on his way into court Tuesday.
At a brief hearing, defense lawyer Thomas Dickey said that he didn’t believe there was evidence to support a forgery charge and questioned whether the gun allegation amounts to a crime. Dickey also said Mangione would contest his extradition to New York and wanted a hearing on the issue.
“You can’t rush to judgment in this case or any case,” Dickey said afterward. “He’s presumed innocent. Let’s not forget that.”
Mangione was arrested in Altoona, about 230 miles (about 370 kilometers) west of New York City after a McDonald’s customer recognized him and notified an employee, authorities said.
New York police officials have said Mangione was carrying the gun and the same fake ID the suspected shooter had used to check into a New York hostel, along with a passport and other fraudulent IDs.
Thompson, 50, was killed on Dec. 4 as he walked alone to a Manhattan hotel for an investor conference.
There were no fingerprints on the ammunition found at the shooting scene, but work is ongoing to analyze a print on a cellphone left nearby, police said Wednesday.
Police are continuing to search for more surveillance video showing Mangione’s movements in New York between Nov. 24, when they say he arrived in the city, and the shooting. From video collected already, investigators determined the suspect quickly fled the city, likely by bus, after the killing.
His movements afterward are unclear, but authorities believe he took steps to stay off the radar. Prosecutors said at Mangione’s Pennsylvania hearing this week that when arrested, he had what are known as Faraday bags for his cellphone and laptop to block signals authorities can use to track electronic devices.
Mangione, a grandson of a well-known Maryland real estate developer and philanthropist, had a graduate degree in computer science and worked for a time at a car-buying website. During the first half of 2022, he bunked at a co-living space in Hawaii, where those who knew him said he suffered from severe and sometimes debilitating back pain.
His relatives have said in a statement that they are “shocked and devastated” at his arrest.
The suspect in the killing of the UnitedHealthcare CEO plans to fight extradition to New York to face murder charges, but officials hope to get him back with what’s called a governor’s warrant.
The process could happen quickly or take more than a month. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office on Wednesday had not yet asked Pennsylvania for the warrant after murder charges were filed against Luigi Mangione late Monday in New York.
In the meanwhile, Mangione is being held without bail in western Pennsylvania in the killing of Brian Thompson. He was captured Monday morning while eating breakfast at a McDonald’s in Altoona. Authorities said he was carrying a gun, mask, and writings linking him to the slaying.
Here’s what you need to know about the extradition process:
What is a governor’s warrant?
It’s a warrant signed by the governor of a state where a fugitive flees after a crime. The governor in that state acts upon an official request from the governor of the state where the crime occurred. In this case, Hochul is expected to seek a governor’s warrant from Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.
What proof does the Pennsylvania governor need before signing?
New York must show that the suspect has been named in an indictment, an information, or, as in Mangione’s case, an arrest warrant based on a police affidavit. Shapiro has spoken with Hochul and “is prepared to sign and process it promptly as soon as it is received,” a spokesperson said Wednesday.
When will New York send the request?
Gov. Hochul’s office had not sent the request as of Wednesday. She could decide to wait for Mangione to be indicted. That could happen fairly quickly if prosecutors present their evidence to a grand jury. Under Pennsylvania law, he can be held for 30 days while authorities seek a governor’s warrant.
What happens if a governor’s warrant is issued?
Mangione must be brought before a Pennsylvania judge to confirm that he is the person being sought in New York. That link could be made by matching his fingerprints or DNA to any found at the scene or otherwise confirming that he is the person named in the warrant.
Will Mangione go willingly?
No, he plans to fight the extradition, according to an Altoona lawyer representing him in the early court hearings, including one Tuesday, when Mangione was denied bail. Still, it’s not easy to avoid being extradited to another state. Prosecutors mostly just need to show that they have the right person in custody on the charges from the other state.
How long will all this take?
In some cases, suspects can be extradited in a matter of days. But the process can drag on for several months if the defense challenges it. As of Wednesday, authorities in New York did not appear to be rushing. To fight extradition, Mangione must file a petition in Pennsylvania by Dec. 24.
Luigi Nicholas Mangione, the suspect in the fatal shooting of a healthcare executive in New York City, apparently was living a charmed life: the grandson of a wealthy real estate developer, valedictorian of his elite Baltimore prep school, and with degrees from one of the nation’s top private universities.
Friends at an exclusive co-living space at the edge of touristy Waikiki in Hawaii where the 26-year-old Mangione once lived widely considered him a “great guy,” and pictures on his social media accounts show a fit, smiling, handsome young man on beaches and at parties.
Now, investigators in New York and Pennsylvania are working to piece together why Mangione may have diverged from this path to make the violent and radical decision to gun down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in a brazen attack on a Manhattan street.
The killing sparked widespread discussions about corporate greed, and unfairness in the medical insurance industry and even inspired folk-hero sentiment toward his killer.
But Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro sharply refuted that perception after Mangione’s arrest on Monday when a customer at a McDonald’s restaurant in Pennsylvania spotted Mangione eating and noticed he resembled the shooting suspect in security-camera photos released by New York police.
“In some dark corners, this killer is being hailed as a hero. Hear me on this, he is no hero,” Shapiro said. “The real hero in this story is the person who called 911 at McDonald’s this morning.”
Mangione’s family and upbringing
Mangione comes from a prominent Maryland family. His grandfather, Nick Mangione, who died in 2008, was a successful real estate developer. One of his best-known projects was Turf Valley Resort, a sprawling luxury retreat and conference center outside Baltimore that he purchased in 1978.
The Mangione family also purchased Hayfields Country Club north of Baltimore in 1986. On Monday, Baltimore County police officers blocked off an entrance to the property, which public records link to Luigi Mangione’s parents. Reporters and photographers gathered outside the entrance.
The father of 10 children, Nick Mangione prepared his five sons — including Luigi Mangione’s father, Louis Mangione — to help manage the family business, according to a 2003 Washington Post report. Nick Mangione had 37 grandchildren, including Luigi, according to the grandfather’s obituary.
Luigi Mangione’s grandparents donated to charities through the Mangione Family Foundation, according to a statement from Loyola University commemorating Nick Mangione’s wife’s death in 2023. They donated to various causes, including Catholic organizations, colleges, and the arts.
One of Luigi Mangione’s cousins is Republican Maryland state legislator Nino Mangione, a spokesman for the lawmaker’s office confirmed.
“Our family is shocked and devastated by Luigi’s arrest,” Mangione’s family said in a statement posted on social media by Nino Mangione. “We offer our prayers to the family of Brian Thompson and we ask people to pray for all involved.”
Mangione’s education and work history
Mangione, who was valedictorian of his elite Maryland prep school, earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in computer science in 2020 from the University of Pennsylvania, a university spokesman told The Associated Press.
He learned to code in high school and helped start a club at Penn for people interested in gaming and game design, according to a 2018 story in Penn Today, a campus publication.
His social media posts suggest he belonged to the fraternity Phi Kappa Psi. They also show him taking part in a 2019 program at Stanford University, and in photos with family and friends at the Jersey Shore and in Hawaii, San Diego, Puerto Rico, and other destinations.
The Gilman School, from which Mangione graduated in 2016, is one of Baltimore’s elite prep schools. The children of some of the city’s wealthiest and most prominent residents, including Orioles legend Cal Ripken Jr., have attended the school. Its alumni include sportswriter Frank Deford and former Arizona Gov. Fife Symington.
In his valedictory speech, Luigi Mangione described his classmates’ “incredible courage to explore the unknown and try new things.”
Mangione took a software programming internship after high school at Maryland-based video game studio Firaxis, where he fixed bugs on the hit strategy game Civilization 6, according to a LinkedIn profile. Firaxis’ parent company, Take-Two Interactive, said it would not comment on former employees.
He more recently worked at the car-buying website TrueCar, but has not worked there since 2023, the head of the Santa Monica, California-based company confirmed to the AP.
Time in Hawaii and reports of back pain
From January to June 2022, Mangione lived at Surfbreak, a “co-living” space at the edge of touristy Waikiki in Honolulu.
Like other residents of the shared penthouse catering to remote workers, Mangione underwent a background check, said Josiah Ryan, a spokesperson for owner and founder R.J. Martin.
“Luigi was just widely considered to be a great guy. There were no complaints,” Ryan said. “There was no sign that might point to these alleged crimes they’re saying he committed.”
At Surfbreak, Martin learned Mangione had severe back pain from childhood that interfered with many aspects of his life, including surfing, Ryan said.
“He went surfing with R.J. once but it didn’t work out because of his back,” Ryan said, but noted that Mangione and Martin often went together to a rock-climbing gym.
Mangione left Surfbreak to get surgery on the mainland, Ryan said, then later returned to Honolulu and rented an apartment. An image posted to a social media account linked to Mangione showed what appeared to be an X-ray of a metal rod and multiple screws inserted into someone’s lower spine.
Martin stopped hearing from Mangione six months to a year ago.
An X account linked to Mangione includes recent posts about the negative impact of smartphones on children; healthy eating and exercise habits; psychological theories; and a quote from Indian philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti about the dangers of becoming “well-adjusted to a profoundly sick society.”
Police report a darker turn
Mangione likely was motivated by his anger at what he called “parasitic” health insurance companies and a disdain for corporate greed, according to a law enforcement bulletin obtained by AP.
He wrote that the U.S. has the most expensive healthcare system in the world and that the profits of major corporations continue to rise while “our life expectancy” does not, according to the bulletin, based on a review of the suspect’s handwritten notes and social media posts.
He appeared to view the targeted killing of the UnitedHealthcare CEO as a symbolic takedown, asserting in his note that he is the “first to face it with such brutal honesty,” the bulletin said.
Mangione called “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski a “political revolutionary” and may have found inspiration from the man who carried out a series of bombings while railing against modern society and technology, the document said.
In 1990, Christopher McCandless, a young man from a privileged background, rejected societal expectations and embarked on a solitary journey into the Alaskan wilderness. His tragic end, a victim of the harsh elements, transformed him into an iconic figure of youthful rebellion and the allure of the untamed.
Fast forward to 2024, and a similar story unfolds. Luigi Mangione, another young man from a wealthy family, found himself disillusioned with the modern world. His alleged actions, the assassination of a prominent healthcare executive, shocked the nation. While the specific motivations behind his actions remain unclear, his online presence reveals a complex individual grappling with contemporary issues.
Mangione, like McCandless, was a curious and intelligent young man who questioned societal norms. He engaged with a diverse range of thinkers, from left-leaning politicians to right-leaning intellectuals, and explored various philosophies and ideologies. His online footprint suggests a deep-seated dissatisfaction with the current state of the world, particularly the healthcare system.
However, unlike McCandless, Mangione's path led him to a darker place. His alleged actions raise questions about the psychological factors that can drive individuals to such extreme violence. It's essential to acknowledge that mental health issues, societal pressures, and personal experiences can contribute to such tragic events.
The cases of McCandless and Mangione highlight the complex and often contradictory nature of the American psyche. They reveal a generation of young people who are both idealistic and disillusioned, seeking meaning and purpose in a world that often feels chaotic and unjust. While McCandless's story serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of unchecked individualism, Mangione's case underscores the need for greater understanding and compassion for those struggling with mental health issues and societal alienation.