With Luigi Mangione officially in custody, everyone is trying to figure out exactly who the 26-year-old alleged shooter is and what led him to murder the CEO of UnitedHealthcare in broad daylight.
His digital footprint has been raked through with a fine tooth comb, and to everyone’s surprise, he’s not who the media thought he was. In fact, between Mangione’s Goodreads account, social media posts, and the manifesto found during his arrest, the suspected shooter is actually opposite of the radical leftist he was expected to be.
He Read a Murderer’s Manifesto and Books on Hitler and JD Vance
Through a Goodreads account believed to belong to Mangione, his book choices paint a very interesting picture. His favorites list is full of popular right-leaning nonfiction such as Atomic Habits and The 4-Hour Work Week.
In one of Mangione’s “bookshelves—” notably titled “ceo-down—” there’s one book about Big Pharma’s affect on democracy and public health. Additionally, the UPenn graduate read multiple books on Elon Musk, JD Vance, Adolf Hitler, and J. Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb.
In a review of Ted Kaczynski’s manifesto, notoriously known as “the Unabomber,” Mangione wrote “He was a violent individual — rightfully imprisoned — who maimed innocent people.” He continued saying, “While these actions tend to be characterized as those of a crazy luddite, however, they are more accurately seen as those of an extreme political revolutionary.”
Social Media Posts Praise Elon Musk and Condemn ‘Wokeism’
The internet continues to praise Mangione for being a “anticapitalist” and a “freedom fighter” for his radical act against the health insurance industry. But, on social media, the alleged shooter condemned DEI and reposted tweets praising Musk for his “commitment to long-term civilization success.”
According to a writer who “corresponded extensively” with Mangione, “He was left-wing on some things and right-wing on others,” Gurwinder Bhogal told the New York Post. The writer continued saying Mangione “opposed wokeism because he didn’t believe it was an effective way to help minorities.”
The suspect also shared content praising former CEO of PayPal Peter Thiel, who famously introduced JD Vance to Donald Trump back in in 2021. In a video shared by Mangione, Thiel said there’s a “strange phenomenon in Silicon Valley” where “great startups seem to be run by people who suffer from a mild form of Asperger’s,” according to NewsWeek.
A Shooter’s Manifesto
When he was arrested, Mangione had what’s believed to be a personal manifesto. It began with a brief address to investigators. “To the Feds, I’ll keep this short, because I do respect what you do for our country,” he wrote. “To save you a lengthy investigation, I state plainly that I wasn’t working with anyone.”
Mangione continued by apologizing “for any strife of traumas but it had to be done,” Mangione wrote. “Frankly, these parasites simply had it coming.”
The manifesto released to the public notably alludes to a potential motive behind the CEO killing. He wrote “A reminder: the US has the #1 most expensive healthcare system in the world, yet we rank roughly #42 in life expectancy.”
He continued saying, “United is the [indecipherable] largest company in the US by market cap, behind only Apple, Google, Walmart. It has grown and grown, but [h]as our life expectancy? No... these [indecipherable] have simply gotten too powerful, and they continue to abuse our country for immense profit because the American public has allowed them to get away with it.”
Mangione continues to be held in Pennsylvania awaiting extradition procedures which would send him back to New York City to stand trial.