(Julianna Frieman, Headline USA) The alleged murderer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson followed progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on social media, screenshots from his apparent @PepMangione account on X showed.
Police identified Luigi Mangione as a person of interest in the shooting death of Thompson Monday afternoon. He was arrested at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania on firearm charges after being recognized by an employee, NBC 4 New York reported.
Mangione engaged with many accounts on X, including some right-wing figures.
He despised the legacy media.
He didn't send out any posts regarding the election.
He frequently engaged with @waitbutwhy.
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) December 9, 2024
Mangione made his final post on X in June, and he joined the social media platform in 2016. He often made posts about science, artificial intelligence and occasionally physical fitness.
Mangione graduated Gilman School, an all-boys high school in Baltimore in 2016 as class valedictorian, NBC 4 New York reported.
He went on to graduate from the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in computer science.
REPORT: Luigi Mangione, who was named a person of interest in the execution of CEO Brian Thompson, was valedictorian of the Gilman School in 2016.
I have found footage of his valedictorian speech at the 119th Gilman School Founder's Day Ceremony.
Mangione is one of six… pic.twitter.com/nPuXtmirWO
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) December 9, 2024
Mangione’s X banner was composed of the following three images: (1) the Pokémon character Breloom, (2) an X-ray photo of a spine with four screws in it and (3) a photo of what appeared to be himself shirtless, revealing a muscular physique.
Police identified Luigi Mangione, 26, as the suspect who shot dead UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. pic.twitter.com/Td8fnTw5up
— Julianna Frieman (@JuliannaFrieman) December 9, 2024
The pinned post on his X account from 2022 reflected on his high school senior speech, in which he described the next century as “unlike anything humanity has ever seen before.”
“7 years ago, I gave my hs senior speech on this topic: ‘Today, I will be talking to you about the future, about topics ranging from conscious artificial intelligence to human immortality. Likely, you’ll dismiss all this pretty quickly as interesting, but just science fiction…’” he wrote.
“…Or worse, you might simply think I’m crazy. But, if you just stay with me for these next eight minutes, I’m confident I can convince you not only of my sanity, but also that the next hundred years of our future are going to be unlike anything humanity has ever seen before.”
— Luigi Mangione (@PepMangione) December 8, 2022
Aside from Kennedy and Ocasio-Cortez, Mangione also followed about 70 other users, including podcaster Joe Rogan, computer programmer and businessman John McAfee, comedian Trevor Noah and New York Times columnist Ezra Klein.
Luigi Mangione, the UnitedHealthcare CEO murderer, followed AOC and RFK Jr. on X, among others. @PepMangione pic.twitter.com/6S4B2kGIac
— Julianna Frieman (@JuliannaFrieman) December 9, 2024
He frequently reposted from writer Tim Urban’s @waitbutwhy account, among other writers.
“I believe this book will go down in history as the most important philosophical text of the early 21st century,” Mangione wrote 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 https://t.co/Ez189GgLm4
— Luigi Mangione (@PepMangione) January 24, 2024
Mangione allegedly assassinated Thompson as he walked out of the Hilton hotel in Midtown Manhattan around 6:46 a.m. on Wednesday.
Before identifying Mangione as the suspect following a five-day manhunt, police found shell castings with the words “deny,” “depose” and “defend” and a backpack full of money from the board game Monopoly.
Julianna Frieman is a freelance writer published by the Daily Caller, Headline USA, The Federalist, and the American Spectator. Follow her on Twitter at @JuliannaFrieman.
