Law Enforcement Claims Seizure of Notebook Belonging to Suspected Assassin of Healthcare CEO
"What's your job? You take out the CEO at the yearly financial analysis event. It's strategic, accurate, and keeps the innocents out of harm's way." These lines allegedly come from a notebook found on Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old person under suspicion for murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
After Mangione's arrest at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania this week, the public has gradually been informed about the person the police believe is responsible for one of the most audacious murders in recent history.
The murder, which happened on December 4th in midtown Manhattan, saw Thompson being shot outside his hotel by a masked attacker. Security footage shows an individual dressed in gray garb, who, after killing Thompson, hopped onto an e-bike and fled. Bullet casings found at the crime scene bore the words “deny,” “defend,” and “depose”—which some have suggested may refer to a book about the healthcare industry.
Now, police claim they have acquired a notebook from Mangione. According to The New York Times, the notebook "outlined the shooting plan," and also "described attending a conference and killing an executive." The Times report doesn't provide many details about the other contents of the notebook, mentioning that the shared lines were shared with the paper by two law enforcement officials. It's possible that, as the legal proceedings progress, more information from the notebook may become public.
Mangione is also believed to have written a "manifesto," which law enforcement sources claim is genuine. This supposed document was published online earlier this week by independent journalist Ken Klippenstein and, in one section, reads: "I apologize for any distress or traumas, but it had to be done. Frankly, these leeches deserved it. A reminder: the US has the most expensive healthcare system in the world, yet we rank around #42 in life expectancy." The manifesto also mentions a "spiral notebook" that the document states should "elucidate the essence of it," seeming to hint at motivations for the shooting.
Thompson's death has predictably divided opinion on the internet—and America. Right-wing influencers quickly tried to portray Mangione as a leftist, with LibsofTikTok labeling him an "anti-capitalist climate-change activist." Conversely, left-leaning accounts were more than happy to idolize the young man, with many commenting on Mangione's good looks, and others expressing support for killing corporate executives. It's clear that a widespread dislike of the healthcare industry has emerged in the past week, with many people expressing their disdain via jokes and memes, many of which have been at the expense of the murdered healthcare executive.
However, a clear picture of Mangione's political beliefs hasn't yet emerged. The Wall Street Journal referred to him as an "Ivy Leaguer with Anticapitalist leanings." A review of Mangione's public-facing social media accounts has produced a mixed bag of interests and political views that don't fit into a straightforward partisan mold. He reportedly left a positive review of Ted Kaczynski, the former talented mathematician who participated in a CIA mind control experiment in the 1950s and went on to become "the Unabomber," an anarchist terrorist who mailed bombs to people.
It's been reported that Mangione comes from a wealthy, well-connected family and that he previously worked as a computer programmer. A video posted online shows the young man delivering the valedictorian speech at his private prep school graduation in 2016. At some point, Mangione suffered a debilitating back injury. He is said to have dropped off the radar in the months leading up to the shooting, prompting some to speculate that something happened during that period that caused him to turn towards violence. Mangione's mother reportedly filed a missing person's report with the San Francisco Police Department on November 18th.
The notebook found on Mangione contains references to his potential plans, describing attending a conference and using technology, such as an e-bike, to execute his actions. In his manifesto, Mangione criticizes the expensive yet underperforming healthcare system in the United States, suggesting a belief in the need for technological advancements and reforms in this sector for the future.
