Did Luigi even do it?

And does it matter?

Mangione’s Pennsylvania attorney, Thomas M. Dickey, during his now-famous moment in which he said, “Here’s all the evidence against my client. Zoom in, zoom in.” Image credit: CBS News.

Intro and Purpose

This is part 3 of my series of articles about the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and the Luigi Mangione case. Part 1 focuses on my thoughts relating to the case as I learned more about it. Part 2 focuses on other supporters of Luigi’s, derisively called “ghouls” by the media.

In my (now-viral) piece, "All the Ghouls are Complicated", I examined the widespread phenomenon of support for alleged UnitedHealthcare CEO assassin Luigi Mangione. I looked at how this killing has been perceived by different groups of people across race, age, gender, and political lines, and what that has meant for political and cultural moments surrounding this case. However, there was one group that I have not yet written about— the people who genuinely believe that Mangione is innocent.

Initial Inconsistencies

Although the very first images released of the shooter went viral because they also depicted a smiling, young, handsome man, some people online didn’t think they looked like Mangione once he was identified. I’ll let you decide for yourself:

Some online observers pointed out that the shooter’s eyebrows appear noticeably shorter and less bushy than Mangione’s. Given that only five days passed between the crime and his arrest, they questioned whether his appearance could have changed so dramatically in that time.

The shooter’s appearance wasn’t the only thing that wasn’t adding up. According to New York Magazine, New York City Commissioner Jessica Tisch deployed the NYPD’s intelligence agency to scour social media for the young man who might be the shooter:

They scoured social-media profiles of hundreds of young men who both looked like the shooter and had posted about their rage at the health-insurance industry. Tisch debated with [intelligence chief Rebecca] Weiner whether potential matches were hot enough to be the guy in the surveillance footage. “I looked at so many photos of people with brown hair, the same complexion. I’d be like, ‘No, that jawline is not chiseled enough. Those eyebrows are not wild enough,’” Tisch [said].

Not only was this unprecedented social media search method ineffective, as Mangione was arrested at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania after being recognized by an elderly customer who allegedly identified him as the man in surveillance photos, but it also raises serious privacy concerns and makes it seem as if Tisch and her team were just looking for someone to blame who would make a believable culprit. It is also ironic— in his social media activity, Mangione posted about frustration with the healthcare industry, sure, but not quite rage. Never anything that could imply he would later carry out a shooting. In short, using these unusual tactics didn’t even bring the NYPD results and instead only made their methods look both pragmatically unreliable and morally questionable.

The McDonald’s arrest itself also didn’t make sense to many people. Why would an alleged killer who used secretive tactics such as 3D-printing his own gun so it couldn’t be tracked, taking a bus to New York all the way from Atlanta and using only cash and multiple fake IDs at locations surrounding the crime suddenly show up at a McDonald’s with the gun and manifesto? How could an Ivy League alum astute enough to carry out an assassination not be smart enough to ditch the evidence? Whether the evidence was planted by the authorities (more on that later when discussing the suspicious search and seizure) or Mangione was merely taking the fall for someone else, something definitely wasn’t adding up.

Speaking of Mangione’s Ivy League background…

An Uncommon Criminal

It goes without saying that Mangione is highly unusual when it comes to murder suspects. He’s wealthy, white, well-educated, well-read, well-traveled, and by all accounts seems to be an intelligent and charming young man. Even during his court appearances, during which he must have been incredibly nervous and stressed, Mangione retained his polite demeanor, thanking a prison guard for holding a door open for him and saying “Appreciate it” in response to a court clerk handing him a document. Mangione had no previous record of criminality or violence of any sort. Dealing with this disconnect has been jarring, but Mangione’s appeal is undeniable, even to those who want him dead. As Substack author Glow of Light wrote in a post titled "This is what happens when power is more important than principles",

When she first saw him after his arrest, [NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch] reportedly said, “Oh God, this is gonna be a problem,” expressing concern that his appearance might generate sympathy. That statement reveals a striking reality—law enforcement was not only focused on making an arrest but also on controlling how the public felt about that arrest. The concern wasn’t whether justice was served, but whether people might start to question the official narrative. Tisch recognized that if Mangione didn’t fit the image of a ruthless criminal, it could complicate how the case was received by the public.

It was hard to imagine that an intelligent Ivy League grad from a good family could have committed a brazen shooting of an insurance executive, and even moreso once he was charged with first-degree murder and terrorism. Adding to the absurdity was the fact that, between the almost-playful defiance of the 3D-printed gun, the manifesto vowing to “wack” Thompson at his own “bean-counter conference”, and taunting the authorities using Monopoly money in an abandoned backpack, the crime was also not without its fair share of humorous elements.

Cahoots and Conspiracies

Brian Thompson had had plenty of his own run-ins with the justice system, from a DUI conviction in 2017 to a lawsuit over AI claim denials and being investigated by the Department of Justice for insider trading. In the immediate aftermath of his killing, some people suggested that someone powerful had him killed before he could testify on this matter in court. The idea that a hitman could have been hired to kill Thompson also made sense when considered alongside statements describing the assassination as a professional hit. After Mangione was identified, some people struggled to believe that a young man with no known shooting experience could have carried out a fatal shot with such precision.

In his manifesto, Mangione specifically attempted to dissuade investigators from looking into the possibility that he might be working with someone else, so it has been somewhat surprising for me that no law enforcement or media have pursued this point further and at least made sure that Mangione didn’t have an accomplice or cover for a professional assassin.

Delays and Motions

As I write this, the deadline for a federal indictment in Mangione’s case has been postponed for the third time. Having been originally set for January 18th, the deadline had previously been postponed until February 17th and then until March 19th. Although Mangione and his attorneys, along with the prosecution, have agreed to the delays under the pretense of needing more time to prepare for the trial, this raises the question of whether the Feds have enough evidence to build a case against Mangione. After all, they were in a hurry to charge him, but their sense of urgency seems to have evaporated now that they actually have to state and defend their case. Will a federal grand jury even return an indictment? What’s going on?

Also of importance in the case’s legal landscape are the two pretrial relief motions filed by Mangione’s Pennsylvania attorney, Thomas Dickey. These motions accuse the officers who arrested Mangione in Altoona of not reading him his Miranda rights and of blocking his exit while they detained him. This constitutes an illegal search and seizure and makes all evidence supposedly gathered, including the gun and manifesto, inadmissible in court. Time will tell whether these motions will have their desired effect on the trial, but the suspicions they have raised about whether the evidence was planted or otherwise tampered with are already impacting discourse about Mangione’s (lack of) due process.

A Note of Caution, or, “What part of ‘despite their obvious flaws’ don’t you understand?”

It has come to my attention that there is a subset of Luigi’s supporters who outright refuse to believe he could have done what he is accused of. While it’s true that Mangione is innocent until proven guilty and that observers should keep an open mind and avoid jumping to conclusions, it is important to take all relevant information into consideration. At present, the information we have points to Mangione as the prime suspect, and, other than pleading “not guilty” at his December 23rd arraignment hearing, he has made little to no effort to distance himself from the crime through his public statements.

I understand that it can be uncomfortable to empathize with an accused murderer. The title of my first article about this case contains the phrase “how I learned to stop worrying” for a reason— in the early days of being a ghoul, I did worry. A lot. So much so that I even threw up one night! (The jury is still out —pun intended— on whether it was my apprehension about sending Letter 1 or undercooked chicken tikka masala from Costco.) But I was eventually able to make peace with my support of Mangione because, as I wrote in that article:

Acknowledging a valid motive and condoning a violent act are two very different things.

More importantly, even if Mangione is guilty, that doesn’t make him evil, just flawed. Humans are complicated creatures, and, where immoral actions exist alongside and because of moral motivations, we find ourselves living in a grey space. This case, as well as the nuances of vigilante justice more broadly, are complicated, and we gain much-needed wisdom when we acknowledge that.

Does Who Did It Matter?

Although all facts of the case will hopefully be uncovered through a speedy trial, the matter of who committed this crime is frankly secondary to the effect that this has had on the American political landscape. The movement that this execution has sparked is bigger than just one CEO or just one assassin. It was a watershed moment for millions of Americans— all pretenses were ripped away and our frustrations with the healthcare industry were laid out in broad daylight for everyone to see. Americans of all stripes recognized that the crime was a symptom of a larger issue and came together for a reckoning against the systems that led us here in the first place and are now trying to stall meaningful dialogue and progress in its tracks. In a way, Luigi is all of us. That shouldn’t terrify us, as this Guardian article by Peter Rothpletz suggests— it should unify us. We shouldn’t be afraid of our own power, but rather willing to take it and use it in peaceful, constructive ways. Health insurance corporations who regularly leave people to die for profit should consider that they now know exactly what the public thinks of them.

Someone I know used to say that “The most effective revolutions are started by rich white men who have everyone else’s best interests at heart.” The above description seems to apply perfectly to Luigi, so this has glowing implications for him currently being the face of the movement for healthcare reform. The way he has exercised leadership, even from prison, through public statements and responding to letters shows that he truly values his supporters and is grateful for the awareness they bring to his cause.

And speaking of leadership, my next post will delve into Mangione’s leadership of the healthcare reform movement in more detail. Keep an eye out for “Prominent Antagonists: Luigi Mangione’s Version”, coming soon.