The arrest of Luigi Mangione panics the United States and social networks. Athletic, graduated from a prestigious university and from a wealthy family, the 26-year-old young man had all the cards in his hands to succeed. But on Monday, December 9, 2024, he was arrested in a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania and immediately charged with the murder that occurred in the middle of the street in New York of Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthCare, the first private health insurer in the United States.
A suspect who panics social networks and benefits from a lot of support
With curly brown hair and a sportsman’s physique, the young man has attracted thousands of people on social networks. His possible political motivations also attract him a lot of support.
The suspect inspired numerous Internet memes, a lookalike contest and several merchandise. “The fact that he’s white, that he’s rich, that he’s handsome… It all creates a real drama that people cling to and want to be a part of,” Joan Donovan, assistant professor of journalism at Boston University, told the online news outlet Baltimore Banner .
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro denounced those who support the suspect. “In the United States, we don’t kill people in cold blood to resolve political disputes or express a point of view. I understand that people are truly frustrated with our healthcare system and I have worked to address that throughout my career. But I do not tolerate, and no one should tolerate, a man, using an illegal ghost gun, killing someone because he thinks their opinion matters more than anything,” he denounced.
A young man from a wealthy Italian-American family in Baltimore
“Unfortunately, we cannot comment on the new information regarding Luigi Mangione. We only know what we read in the media. Our family is shocked and devastated by Luigi’s arrest. We pray for Brian Thompson’s family,” wrote the Mangione family in a press release shared by the suspect’s cousin, Nino Mangione, on X. The latter is an elected Republican, member of the local parliament in Maryland, in the eastern United States.
The Mangione family, of Italian origin, is well known in the Baltimore area, according to the Baltimore Banner. The patriarch, Nick Mangione, built his fortune in the real estate business, owning country clubs, retirement homes and radio stations.
The Mangione family’s wealth and charitable commitment have earned it a strong reputation in Baltimore, says the New York Times. Luigi Mangione was “the last person one could have suspected”, Thomas J. Maronick Jr., a lawyer and radio host who knows several members of the young man’s family, told the American newspaper.
Still according to the New York Timesthe young man had not given any sign of life to his family for about six months.
A brilliant student passionate about video games
Computer enthusiast, Luigi Mangione “was a strong believer in the power of technology to change the world,” emphasized to New York Times Aaron Cranston, one of his school friends.
In 2018, this Maryland native co-chaired a group of students to develop video games at the University of Pennsylvania, one of the best in the country. He graduated in 2020 in engineering.
“In high school I started playing a lot of indie video games and things like that, but I wanted to make my own game so I learned to code,” said Luigi Mangione, quoted in a university article, which has since been deleted, underlines theAFP.
For one of Luigi Mangione’s former classmates at a posh private high school in Baltimore, the young man’s arrest is “a real shock”, he said to theAFP. It evokes a boy rather ” calm “ et « intelligent », who increased his promotion in 2016.
For his part, RJ Martin, who lived in Hawaii with the suspect in 2022, is also in shock. “It’s unimaginable,” he confided to CNN. He remembers a “caring person”.
A suspect driven by political motivations?
How did this young man, visibly well-connected, become the number one suspect in a cold-blooded murder? Investigators found a manifesto which appears to attest to possible political motivations. Luigi Mangione criticizes the health system “the most expensive in the world, while the life expectancy of an American is ranked 42e world rank”, detailed Joseph Kenny, of the New York police, on the channel ABC.
In this manifesto, Luigi Mangione denounces companies that “continue to abuse our country for immense profit, simply because the Americans let them.” “Frankly these parasites deserved it,” he continues.
His childhood friend Aaron Cranston describes a boy who was not particularly political. On the contrary, RJ Martin, the former roommate in Hawaii, remembers discussions for “improve the world”, during which Luigi Mangione spoke in particular of the flaws in the American health system. But he says he never detected any particular anger in him.
Luigi Mangione suffered from health problems
Could his health problems have fueled resentment? The police are particularly wondering about a medical X-ray photo posted on the suspect’s X account. Luigi Mangione suffered from back problems. After a surf lesson, Luigi Mangione “had been in bed for about a week,” explained RJ Martin to CNN, assuring that his friend had recently had surgery.
The death of Brian Thompson caused a strong stir across the Atlantic but also numerous hateful comments on social networks, a symbol of anger against a lucrative system accused of enriching itself at the expense of patients.
In January, a profile in the name of Luigi Mangione commented on the Internet on the writings of Ted Kaczynski, alias Unabomberwho terrified the United States with parcel bomb attacks between 1978 and 1995.
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