The man arrested as a person of interest in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson appears to have left a digital footprint that showed scattered political beliefs and an embrace of extreme measures — including a comment about Ted Kaczynski, the domestic terrorist known as the “Unabomber.”
Authorities have identified the arrested man as Luigi Mangione, 26. Mangione was arrested by law enforcement in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on Monday.
Mangione is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, having majored in computer science and earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree. He was a member of the class of 2020, a spokesperson for the university confirmed to The New York Times and CBS News. A commencement program identified Mangione as being a member of Eta Kappa Nu, an academic honor society for computer scientists and electrical engineers. And a since-removed Penn Today article credited him with establishing a video game development club at the school. Several reports, including from The Baltimore Sun, have also identified him as the valedictorian of the Gilman School in Baltimore.
“He would be the last one I would think would do something like this,” one former classmate told the Sun. “He was a nice kid.”
A spokesman for Take-Two Interactive, which owns Firaxis Games, maker of the popular video game franchise Civilization, confirmed to the Times that Mangione was a former employee. (According to Mangione’s apparent LinkedIn account, he interned for the company while in college.) He also previously worked at TrueCar, a digital marketplace for automobiles, a spokesperson for the company told the Times, adding that he hadn’t been there since 2023.
Unnamed sources told the New York Post that when Mangione was arrested, authorities also recovered a “manifesto.” The document showed that the person of interest “has some ill will towards corporate America,” said Joseph Kenny, chief of detectives for the New York Police Department, according to CNN. Citing an unnamed police official, CNN also reported that the document “rails against the health care industry and suggested that violence is the answer” and that it included the quotes “These parasites had it coming” and “I do apologize for any strife and trauma, but it had to be done.”
Bullet casings at the scene of Thompson’s murder were reportedly inscribed with the words “deny,” “defend” and “depose” — which led to speculation ahead of Mangione’s arrest that the attack was ideologically motivated, as those terms are associated with health care companies’ tactics for decisions denying medical coverage.
Social media accounts that appear to be connected to Mangione — including a now-suspended account on X, formerly called Twitter, and an account tracking books and quotes saved on Goodreads — show that he consumed a hodgepodge of material focused broadly on health and wellness, as well as philosophy and modern political commentary.
Suspect Called Unambomber ‘Political Revolutionary’
Mangione most notably ruminated on Goodreads about the “Unabomber,” Ted Kaczynski — a domestic terrorist who mailed bombs to people he viewed as advancing harmful modern technologies.
Mangione wrote that Kaczynski was a “violent individual” who was “rightfully imprisoned.” (Kaczynski killed three people and injured many more with his bombs.) But Mangione also wrote that rather than characterizing the Unabomber as a “crazy luddite,” it would be more accurate to call him “an extreme political revolutionary.”
The Goodreads account apparently belonging to Mangione gave Kaczynski’s book, “Industrial Society and Its Future,” a four-star review.
Other material flagged by Mangione’s apparent Goodreads account included books on philosophy, computer algorithms, productivity, mental health and psychedelic mushrooms. He’d also flagged a handful of books on back pain and spine surgery, showing one potential link to the health insurance industry. (The “header” photo on Mangione’s apparent X account shows an X-ray of what appears to be a spine.)
In January, he reposted on X a commentary of a quote attributed to the Indian philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti, who was credited with the line: “It is no measure of good health to be well-adjusted to a profoundly sick society.” Attempting to force “mal-adjusted” people to conform to society will fail because society itself needs changing, the commentary said, adding, “Just as gun legislation will not end the senseless mass shootings because what we really need to do is stop generating psychopaths as a culture.”
He also consumed a scattershot diet of contemporary writing and podcasts ranging from popular “wellness” influencers like Andrew Huberman and Tim Ferris, food writers including Michael Pollan, and Tim Urban, the author and illustrator behind the popular website “Wait But Why.” Manigione reposted plenty of content from Urban, including media criticism, observations on population growth, and material concerning the rise of artificialintelligence. In a X post from 2022, Manigione shared what he said were excerpts from a 7-year-old speech of his own that discussed the pace of technological advancement.
“When we understand just how fast the rate of human progress is increasing, a revolutionary near future isn’t unbelievable, it’s actually the only logical conclusion,” he wrote, before urging readers to “be excited for what the future holds for us.”
In January, Mangione said of Urban’s book, “What’s Our Problem,” “I believe this book will go down in history as the most important philosophical text of the early 21st century.”
Just days ago, Urban criticized journalist Taylor Lorenz for commenting, “And people wonder why we want these executives dead,” in response to news that Blue Cross Blue Shield would put time limits on its reimbursements for the use of anesthesia during surgery. (The company later reversed that announcement.) After news broke that the shooter was apparently a fan of his, Urban posted “Um” and “Very much not the point of the book.”
Mangione also appeared to have reposted right-wing criticisms of atheism and “wokeism.”
One post of Mangione’s linked to an analysis of “Christianity’s decline,” which said it had made way for “intolerant new gods.” He also reposted a video of Peter Thiel, the right-wing billionaire, speaking about how “socially well-adapted” people “will be talked out of all of their original, creative ideas before they’re even fully formed.”
Other material he reposted included critiques of “legacy media” and of corporate hypocrisy as it relates to supporting LGBTQ+ people.
A Prominent Family
Mangione is part of an extended Italian American family that has made its mark on the Baltimore area for decades, as The Baltimore Banner first reported. Obituaries for his grandparents — his grandfather died in 2008 and his grandmother in 2023 — note their 10 children and 37 grandchildren, as well as their accomplishments in business and as benefactors for Loyola University Maryland and local Italian American groups. IRS documents show the family’s foundation in 2022 counted $4 million in assets; grants included payments to local educational and health care institutions as well as $50,000 to the Archdiocese of Baltimore.
Among the businesses that Mangione Family Enterprises reportedly owns are Turf Valley Resort and Conference Center, Hayfields Country Club and talk radio station WCMB. The family also owns Lorien Health Services.
“Lorien Health Services is a family-owned and operated Assisted Living and Nursing Home organization that was founded by and conducts itself on strong family values,” the company’s website says.
A spokesperson for Lorien Health Services acknowledged the Mangione family’s relationship to the person of interest but added, “We are not commenting at this time.”
Among Mangione’s cousins is Nino Mangione, who describes himself as a “conservative champion” in the Maryland House of Delegates. An upcoming fundraiser for Nino Mangione’s campaign for Baltimore City Council is planned at the family-owned country club.