Thompson was shot and killed in New York City on December 4, 2024. Following a nationwidemanhunt, Mangione was arrested inAltoona, Pennsylvania, five days after the shooting.[4] He was indicted on eleven state charges and four federal charges,[5] includingfirst-degree murder[a] in furtherance ofterrorism,criminal possession of a weapon, andstalking.[6][7] Federal prosecutors are seeking thedeath penalty in Mangione's federal case.[8][b] In September 2025, a New York judge dismissed Mangione's terror-related murder charges; he still faces a charge of second-degree murder.[9]
Since his arrest, Mangione has been celebrated as afolk hero by supporters.[10][11] Opinion polls have found that American adult respondents are more likely than not to hold a negative view toward Mangione, with younger and moreliberal respondents more likely to view him favorably.[12][13] The support Mangione has generated has been connected to negative opinions of the U.S.health insurance industry and claim denial practices.[14]Rolling Stone has described Mangione as the "most debated and polarizing murder suspect in recent history".[15][16]
Mangione attendedGilman School, an all-boys private secondary school in Baltimore, where he participated in sports such as soccer, track, cross country, and wrestling.[22] He developed an interest in video games andvideo game development,[23] teaching himself how to code,[23] and co-founding a gaming app development company.[24][25] Mangione graduated as thevaledictorian of his class in 2016, and his valedictorian speech focused on the impact ofartificial intelligence and technology on society.[23][15]
In November 2020, Mangione began working remotely as adata engineer forTrueCar.[32][33] He left his job at the end of February 2023, sharing with his former classmate that "Data engineering paid super well but was mind-numbingly boring" and that he wanted to "spend more time reading and doing yoga".[15]
Brian Thompson,CEO of theAmerican health insurance companyUnitedHealthcare, wasshot and killed inMidtown Manhattan on December 4, 2024. The shooting occurred early in the morning outside an entrance to theNew York Hilton Midtown hotel and was captured on video. Thompson was shot in the leg and the back.[34] Thompson was in the city to attend an annualinvestors' meeting for UnitedHealthcare'sparent company,UnitedHealth Group. The suspect, initially described as a white man wearing a mask, fled the scene.[35] The gunman was masked and had come to New York via a bus fromAtlanta.[36][37] The words "delay", "deny", and "depose" were written on the spentcases and an ejected cartridge.[38][39][40] The three words are similar to "Delay, Deny, Defend", a well-known phrase in the insurance industry alluding to insurance companies' efforts to avoid paying claims.[41] The suspect was seen at a bus terminal after the killing.[42] In aCentral Park wooded area, New York police discovered a backpack—which supposedly the gunman had disposed of—that containedMonopoly money and aTommy Hilfiger jacket.[36]
After a five-day nationwide manhunt, local police arrested Mangione at aMcDonald's restaurant on East Plank Road inAltoona, Pennsylvania, on December 9, 2024. The police responded to a call an employee made after a customer noticed similarities between Mangione's appearance and images of Thompson's alleged killer released by theNew York City Police Department (NYPD).[43][44][45] Altoona is about 280 miles (450 km) west of New York City.[46] The police reported that Mangione was "visibly shaken" when they asked him if he had recently visited New York City.[47]
Upon searching Mangione, police said they found a3D-printed gun and a 3D-printedsuppressor that were similar to the weapons used in the shooting. Police stated that they also found afake driver's license fromNew Jersey bearing the name "Mark Rosario". A man who checked into a Manhattanhostel in late November used the same license.[4][46][48][49] Shell casings found at the crime scene reportedly matched the gun found on Mangione.[50] The police also said that when they arrested him, they found a 262-word handwritten document partly about theAmerican healthcare system.[51][52] Mangione had no priorcriminal record.[53]
Handwritten document
Upon Mangione's arrest, police said they found in his possession a 262-word handwritten document, which many media outlets characterized as a "manifesto".[54] The handwritten document spoke to Mangione's "motivation and mindset", according to NYPD CommissionerJessica Tisch.[55][31] JournalistKen Klippenstein published a transcription of the document police said was found on him. Police confirmed that the transcription was authentic.[56][57][58] The document reads:
To the Feds, I'll keep this short, because I do respect what you do for our country. To save you a lengthy investigation, I state plainly that I wasn't working with anyone. This was fairly trivial: some elementary social engineering, basicCAD, a lot of patience. The spiral notebook, if present, has some straggling notes and To Do [sic] lists that illuminate the gist of it. My tech is pretty locked down because I work in engineering so probably not much info there. I do apologize for any strife of [sic?] traumas but it had to be done. Frankly, these parasites simply had it coming. A reminder: the US has the #1 most expensive healthcare system in the world, yet we rank roughly #42 in life expectancy. United is the [indecipherable] largest company in the US by market cap, behind only Apple, Google, Walmart. It has grown and grown, but as [sic] our life expectancy? No the reality is, these [indecipherable] have simply gotten too powerful, and they continue to abuse our country for immense profit because the American public has allwed [sic] them to get away with it. Obviously the problem is more complex, but I do not have space, and frankly I do not pretend to be the most qualified person to lay out the full argument. But many have illuminated the corruption and greed (e.g.:Rosenthal ,Moore),[c] decades ago and the problems simply remain. It is not an issue of awareness at this point, but clearly power games at play. Evidently I am the first to face it with such brutal honesty.[56]
Thecomplaint filed by theUnited States Attorney for the Southern District of New York calls the letter "The Feds Letter" because it is addressed "To the Feds".[61] The complaint filed by the U.S. Attorney's office also stated: 'P.S. you can check serial numbers to verify this is all self-funded. My own ATM withdrawals.',[62] which is not shown in the document released by Klippenstein.[56]
On December 9, 2024, Mangione was charged inBlair County, Pennsylvania, with carrying a gun without alicense, forgery, falsely identifying himself to the authorities, and possessing "instruments of crime".[55] He was arraigned at approximately 6 p.m. at theBlair County Courthouse on firearms charges, was questioned by members of theNew York City Police Department,[63] and was deniedbail.[55][64][65] As he was led into the courthouse, Mangione shouted to the gathered cameras that the news media coverage of the event was "completely out of touch" and "an insult to the intelligence of the American people and their lived experience".[66][67][68]
Mangione was extradited to New York City on December 19, 2024, and charged with four federal crimes.[71][72] On December 23, he was arraigned in theNew York Supreme Court and pleaded not guilty to his state charges.[73] On April 17, 2025, he was formally indicted on his federal charges.[74]
Possibleremedies for murder through the use of a firearm—the third federal charge—include thedeath penalty.[75] During hissecond presidency, U.S. PresidentDonald Trump signed anexecutive order that requires the death penalty to be used wherever possible.[76] U.S. Attorney GeneralPam Bondi announced on April 1, 2025, that prosecutors would seek the death penalty in Mangione's federal case.[b] The state charges carry a maximum penalty oflife imprisonment.[77][78][79][80] Mangione is being held at theMetropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn under Federal Register Number 52503-511. He will remain at MDC Brooklyn until his trial.[71]
On September 16, 2025, Judge Gregory Carro, presiding over Mangione's New York state's case, dismissed twoterrorism-related murder charges—first-degree murder in furtherance of terrorism and second-degree murder as a crime of terrorism—against Mangione, ruling that they did not meet the legal threshold for acts intended to intimidate or coerce the public.[81]
Defense
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Mangione pleaded not guilty to all of the Pennsylvania and New York charges. After the announcement of thedeath penalty in April, his New York defense team requested that the judge block theJustice Department from pursuing the death penalty, arguing that the decision was a "publicity stunt"[86] and "consistent with the new culture of the highest levels of the Justice Department, one that values personal will over process, publicity over discretion and partisan politics over justice".[87]
By December 13,crowdfunding platformGoFundMe had removed fundraisers created to support Mangione due to the site'sterms of service prohibiting fundraisers for the legal defense of violent crimes.[88] AGiveSendGo fundraiser has remained live and, as of May 2025, has raised overUS$1 million.[89] Donors have cited the "politicization" of the case, the potential use of the death penalty,due process, and frustrations with the healthcare system as reasons for their donations.[78][90][91] Karen Friedman Agnifilo toldNewsweek that Mangione is "aware of the fund and very much appreciates the outpouring of support" and "plans on utilizing it to fight all three of the unprecedented cases against him".[92][93] On February 14, 2025, Mangione's New York defense team launched a website dedicated to providing updates on his prosecutions due to the "extraordinary volume of inquiries and outpouring of support".[94]
Personal life
After graduation, Mangione moved to Hawaii and resided at Surfbreak, aco-living space inHonolulu, from January to June 2022.[1][95] An avid reader,[96] he co-founded a book club at Surfbreak in 2023; the book club ended when Mangione left Hawaii later that year.[15] In February 2024, Mangione told a friend that he was "goingbackpacking for awhile",[15] and did a solo trip through East and Southeast Asia, visiting Japan, Thailand, and other countries.[96]
In June 2024, Mangione stopped posting on social media.[97][98] His family members reached out to his past friends for help in tracking him down, but were unsuccessful.[96] On November 18, 2024, his motherreported him missing to theSan Francisco Police Department; she stated that the family had not heard from him since July.[99] She contacted the SFPD because she believed that he was living in San Francisco and still worked for TrueCar, which had an office there.[100]
Health
Mangione had discussed gettingLyme disease at age 13, and wrote that he had been experiencingbrain fog since high school.[96] He had also sought advice online regardingirritable bowel syndrome andvisual snow.[96] While studying at the University of Pennsylvania, Mangione wrote in a post online that he had considered dropping out due to worsening health issues, but decided against it, writing, "Staying in college has at least let me maintain some semblance of normality".[101]
Mangione has written that he suffers fromspondylolisthesis.[102][103][97] While he was living inHawaii, his back pain worsened due to a surfing mishap, and he had expressed concerns to others about the pain.[97][95] He reportedly underwent aspinal fusion surgery in July 2023[104][96] and wrote on social media that the surgery went well.[97] Police have stated that UnitedHealthcare did not insure Mangione.[105][106]
Social media presence
After his arrest, several news outlets analyzed Mangione's social media to gather information about his social, political, and religious views.[107] His Twitter account, "PepMangione", posted about topics such as religion, history, ethics, and politics, and they found him to be "fascinated by AI and decision theory; pro-technology but anti-smartphones; secular and scientific in his outlook."[108][107]
Mangione showed a skeptical attitude toward bothJoe Biden andDonald Trump.[109] Multiple sources have reported that he followed Democratic representativeAlexandria Ocasio-Cortez as well asRobert F. Kennedy Jr. and others, labeling him as politically uncategorized and "anti-system".[107][110][111]Time magazine said it could not discern whether his political views were left- or right-wing.[53]The Spectator wrote that his worldview "wasn't pinned to a standard left-right axis".[112]Jacobin stated he held "a hodgepodge of views and political beliefs that don't neatly map onto any one category on the political spectrum".[113] Maryland's statevoter records indicate that Mangione is registered as having no party affiliation.[114]
Mangione posted aGoodreads review of "Unabomber"Ted Kaczynski'sIndustrial Society and Its Future,[115] describing Kaczynski as "rightfully imprisoned" and criticizing his use of violence against innocent individuals. The review was quoted as writing, "Clearly written by a mathematics prodigy. Reads like a series oflemmas on the question of 21st century quality of life", and "It's easy to quickly and thoughtless [sic] write this off as the manifesto of a lunatic, in order to avoid facing some of the uncomfortable problems it identifies ... but it's simply impossible to ignore how prescient many of his predictions about modern society turned out". The review, which gave the manifesto four out of five stars, also contained a quote the reviewer claimed to have found online. The quote included the lines"'Violence never solved anything' is a statement uttered by cowards and predators" and "When all other forms of communication fail, violence is necessary to survive".[116][117][118]
After his arrest, Mangione quickly emerged as a polarizing figure, described by theRolling Stone as the "most debated and polarizing murder suspect in recent history".[15] He received significant online support,[47][119] with many celebrating him as afolk hero[120][10] and a modern-dayRobin Hood.[121][122] The hashtag "#FreeLuigi" and its variations have been shared over 50,000 times on Twitter by those advocating for his release.[123] Images andmemes have circulated online,[124] and items and merchandise in support of Mangione were posted one-commerce sites such asEtsy andAmazon.[125][126] The support for Mangione extended beyond social media, as public displays of support appeared in forms ofstreet art,graffiti, and signs across various locations,[127][128] including abillboard inRiverside County,California,[129] and amural inSeattle.[130] Mangione's fellow inmates at SCI Huntingdon in Pennsylvania were heard shouting "Free Luigi" from their cells during a live broadcast interview withNewsNation,[131] and groups of people gathered at the courthouses to express their support for Mangione during hiscourt hearings.[132][133] On February 14, 2025, Mangione thanked the public in his first official statement since his arrest, stating that "the support has transcended political, racial, and even class divisions".[94]
Charlie Warzel ofThe Atlantic wrote that to some, Mangione is an "expression of the depth of righteous anger present in American life right now, a symbol of justified violence".[134] Following the Thompson killing, anger erupted on social media platforms at Thompson, UnitedHealth,[135][136][137][138] and the U.S.health insurance system generally, with many praising the killing.[135] The support Mangione has generated has been connected to the public's often negative view of the Americanhealth insurance industry and what many consider to be unfair claim denial practices that inflict harm;[139][140] the case has spurred growing calls for health insurance reform.[141] A December 2024NORC at the University of Chicago poll found that most American adults believe that health insurance companies' denials for health care coverage and/or profits made by those companies share a moderate amount or a great deal of responsibility for Thompson's death.[142][143]
Regarded as one of the "most polarizing figures in Americanpop culture" byThe Guardian,[144]public opinion on Mangione has been mixed. A December 2024Economist/YouGov poll found that 43% of American citizens held an unfavorable view of Mangione, while 21% viewed him favorably. Support for him was notably higher among citizens aged 18–29 and those identifying as very liberal, while older and more conservative individuals tended to view him unfavorably.[12] Similarly, a December 2024 online poll by the Center for Strategic Politics found that 61% of respondents had a negative perception of Mangione, while 19% held a positive view. They found that opinions on him vary "dramatically" by age, with younger respondents expressing more favorable views than those over 45[13] and viewing Mangione "far more favorably" than Thompson and UnitedHealthcare.[145][146]
Mangione has been the subject of multiple documentaries, TV shows, news specials, and asatirical comedy musical.[147][148] In September 2025,Ryan Murphy, creator of theNetflix true crime anthology,Monster, expressed interest in creating a season of the show based on Mangione.[149]
Perp walk
Luigi Mangione at the perp walk
After being transported from Pennsylvania to New York on December 19, Mangione received a highly publicizedperp walk, escorted by many heavily armed law enforcement officials and New York City mayorEric Adams.[150]Stanford Law School professorRobert Weisberg said: "TheFBI andNYDA could have transported Mangione discreetly, but they opted for a public show".[151] Some legal experts stated that the perp walk was a "blatant and unnecessary attempt at self-promotion".[150]
Policy director for the Justice Collaboratory atYale Law School Jorge Camacho said: "In a case like Mangione's, where the suspect has garnered some sympathy and applause from people frustrated with greedy health-care insurance companies, the [perp walk] can backfire".[152] Memes in support of Mangione circulated on social media, many of which compared his perp walk to thearrest of Jesus, perp walk scenes from theSuperman movies, andRenaissance paintings.[153] During Mangione's New York court hearing on December 23, his defense attorney called the perp walk "unnecessary" and "utterly political".[154]
After Mangione's Manhattan courtroom appearance on December 23, 2024,Maison Margiela trended on Twitter andThreads after social media users misidentified the brand of the burgundy sweater that Mangione was wearing. Users later determined that he was wearing a "washableMerino crewneck sweater" fromNordstrom, which social media users nicknamed "Mangione Merino",[156] and quickly sold out.[157] After his February 2025 court appearance, photographs of Mangione's shackled bare ankles in brownloafers wentviral, with the search terms "luigi mangione loafers" and "luigi mangione ankles" spiking by 1,400% and 500%, respectively, onGoogle.[158][159][160] In early September 2025, a product featuring an edited andAI-generated image of Mangione modelling a shirt was listed for sale by the Chinese online retailerShein.[161] Shein claimed that the image was provided by a third-party vendor and that it was immediately removed from its site upon discovery.[162] An archived listing of the original advert from theWayback Machine suggests that before its removal, the shirt had completely sold out in all sizes but one.[163]
Regarding Mangione's online popularity,criminologist Diana Rickard toldWomen's Wear Daily: "What we see with Mangione is he has quickly become a folk hero and a fashion folk hero".[157]
Notes
^abcdThe state of New York defines first- and second-degree murder differently than most states. Usually, premeditated murder is first-degree; in New York, it is second-degree, with first-degree being reserved for a premeditated murder with one of a list of aggravating factors. The only possibly applicable one in Mangione's case is murder committed as an act of terrorism. SeeMurder in New York law.
^abc"CNN News Central: Luigi Mangione Indicted in Murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO".CNN Transcripts (transcript). CNN. December 17, 2024. RetrievedDecember 19, 2024.Let me say a bit more about the charges. They include one count of murder in the first degree as a killing and furtherance of terrorism, two counts of murder in the second degree. One charge of the killing was done as an act of terrorism and the second pertaining to the fact that the killing was intentional.
^Dee, Katherine (December 9, 2024)."Inside the mind of Luigi Mangione".The Spectator World.Archived from the original on December 9, 2024. RetrievedDecember 10, 2024.Mangione's dissatisfaction had a different inflection. He gravitated toward "traditionalism", a term gaining traction in certain media spaces as shorthand for a certain right-tinged longing: for older aesthetics, more formal courtship rituals, seemingly more authentic ways of life. Think pieces abound about this niche of right-coded thought, which seeks permanence and depth beyond what the digital present seems to offer.
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