“Robin Hood, “hero”… Luigi Mangione is the subject of many messages of support. The 26-year-old man is, however, the authorities' only suspect for the assassination of Brian Thomson, CEO of the UnitedHealthcare insurance company, shot dead in a New York street on December 4. He was arrested on Monday December 9, 500 kilometers away, in a McDonald's from Altoona, Pennsylvania, after five days of a high-profile hunt.
Born into a wealthy Italian-American family, raised in Maryland, Luigi Mangione is an engineer, graduated from a prestigious private university in Pennsylvania. His profile and physique have given rise to wild speculation and conspiracy theories. Franceinfo returns to several of them.
The “scapegoat” theory
“This is completely unfair and an insult to the intelligence of the American people.”Luigi Mangione said Wednesday, while he was handcuffed and escorted by police in Blair County Court (Pennsylvania). A statement which did not fail to fuel speculation. “It seems like he's a scapegoat. I feel like we're in a simulation… A really weird episode of [la série de science-fiction dystopique] Black Mirror”, reacts a person on TikTok, spotted by the Californian channel Fox 11.
“If you believe that an Ivy League guy [groupe de prestigieuses universités américaines privées] randomly decided to assassinate a big CEO, you are one of the sheep. Ultra Obvious MK Agent/Scapegoat Set Up by Shadow Government”estimates another Internet user on electroshock, or even sensory deprivation. These methods, often illegal, were used on American and foreign citizens during the Cold War.
It has also become a recurring reference in conspiracy circles to explain all kinds of acts, criminal or not, as explained in 2019 by the American monthly Wired. The program was discontinued in the 1970s. Luigi Mangione, aged 26, could therefore not have been involved in this program.
The “shadow government” is another recurring conspiracy theory, based on the idea that a secret, unelected group exercises real power, manipulating official governments to serve hidden interests. Behind this secret group, entities such as central banks, global elites, secret societies, whose objective, according to these theories, wish, according to the supporters of this baseless thesis, to create a “new world order”.
The unibrow theory
On social networks, amateur investigators are multiplying, and some are convinced of having spotted inconsistencies between the video surveillance images which were used to track the shooter and the photos of the arrested suspect. “If the masked man doesn't have a unibrow, then why is Luigi arrested? The plot thickens like this eyebrow”jokes an Internet user on X, supporting low quality photo editing. “The eyebrows don't match. The nose is different and (…) the suspect has a sharper jaw and chin than Luigi”says another.
“If you look at photos of him taken at his hotel, his face is very angular” compared to the photos of his arrest where he looks at the camera head on, said Tracy Walder, former CIA and FBI agent, interviewed on the American show Crime Fix on Wednesday. “You have to take into account several camera angles. This will give a different reading of your face. I think that people choose what suits them to say that it's not him”she explains.
The first elements of the investigation, however, proved overwhelming for Luigi Mangione. His fingerprints matched those found at the crime scene and the shell casings discovered matched the gun the suspect had at the time of his arrest. In addition to a firearm kit, the young engineer carried with him a false identity card and a three-page manuscript criticizing in particular the health system and large businesses in the United States.
The theory of the number 286
Some, like the X conspiracy account Concerned Citizen (followed by 740,000 subscribers), note a repetition of the number 286 in the life of Luigi Mangione. On X, the account in the name of Luigi Mangione displays 286 publications. In the banner of his profile on the same network, we can see Chapignon, the 286th Pokémon in the Pokédex, a directory of Japanese video game characters. According to these Internet users, he was also arrested 286 miles from the murder scene (rather between 279 and 290 miles by road, depending on the route chosen). Finally, they quote chapter 28, verse 6, from the Old Testament Book of Proverbs. Translations vary, but the proverb basically says: “Better is a poor man of honest conduct than a crooked and devious man, even if he is rich.”
Furthermore, as pointed out Newsweekthe number 286 is associated with the “refusal code” applied when a health care reimbursement file is refused due to failure to meet appeal deadlines. So many coincidences which may have satisfied Internet users who are fans of signs and hidden messages, without advancing the investigation.
The theory of Monopoly
For others, Luigi Mangione was playing Monopoly with the authorities. At the origin of this rumor, bank notes from the board game discovered in a backpack abandoned in Central Park, which resembled the one carried by the shooter, details CNN. An Internet user estimated on X that Luigi Mangione had left money in the famous park, which symbolizes “middle of the game board, where people deposit money”. This is not an official rule, but some players do indeed use this area to fund a prize pool.
The Internet user then draws a parallel with the fact that the suspect took the train to go to Pennsylvania, emphasizing that Pennsylvania Railroad is one of the stations in the American version of the game. He also emphasizes that McDonald's has, for several years, conducted commercial operations with the game. He concludes by hoping that the suspect will get the “Get out of jail” card, believing that Luigi Mangione is not the real shooter.
For Ted Williams, a former Washington detective, interviewed by Fox News, the Monopoly money found in a backpack rather means that the suspect was playing “cat and mouse game” with the authorities. Luigi Mangione “knew there was a good chance they would find the backpack, and he left bread crumbs to let the authorities know he was in control”estimates the expert. Arrested Tuesday, the suspect is being prosecuted for first degree murder, and charged with possession of a firearm without a license, forgery and providing false identification to the police.
