If you’re online at all, you’ve seen his name. Luigi Mangione. The guy who allegedly killed a healthcare CEO and somehow gained a weird fanbase on TikTok. There are edits. People calling him a modern-day vigilante.
So what’s so special about this case? And why are people actually defending him?
Who is Luigi Mangione?
Luigi is 26, grew up in Baltimore, and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in computer science and engineering. Basically, he had everything going for him, good school, money, privilege, connections.
Which is why everyone was shocked when his name came up in the news for allegedly killing Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare. According to the Department of Justice, Thompson was shot outside a hotel in Midtown Manhattan on December 4, 2024, in what looked like a very calculated, targeted killing.
How was he caught?
Five days later, Mangione was found at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
Police say an employee recognized him from a surveillance photo taken at a hostel where he had briefly lowered his face mask. That image, according to authorities, helped them track him down.
When they arrested him, he had fake IDs, a 3D-printed gun with a silencer, and a handwritten manifesto attacking the healthcare system and corporate America in general.
It wasn’t just a random act, it looked premeditated.
Why people are suspicious
Here’s where the internet comes in. People started noticing things that felt off.
First, the hostel surveillance photo. Some say the guy in the image doesn’t look exactly like Mangione, specifically the smile. Others say it’s just the angle. But it’s enough to make people on Reddit and TikTok start asking questions.
Then there’s how easy the arrest was. A five-day manhunt ends with him sitting quietly in McDonald’s, alone, with everything on him? It feels too neat. Too scripted.
And of course, the manifesto. The fact that he directly attacked the healthcare industry, a system many people already hate, led some to frame him as someone who “snapped” because of injustice.
Why are people defending him?
That’s the most viral part. Some people think Luigi was acting out of moral outrage. They say the system is broken, and that billion-dollar healthcare CEOs profit off people being sick.
And then there are the edits. Soft lighting. Lana Del Rey playing. Comments like “he said what we’re all thinking.”
What’s actually happening now?
Mangione has been charged with murder and terrorism. The DOJ is seeking the death penalty, which is rare for a federal case like this. His trial hasn’t started yet, but it’s expected to be a huge media moment.
More details are slowly coming out. His family apparently hired a private investigator before the arrest because he had stopped contacting them. And the manifesto? It’s real. But it hasn’t been released publicly in full.
So… is something off?
Honestly? Yeah. Maybe. The photo, the timing, the way he was caught, the online reactions, all of it feels too fast, too clean, too made-for-Netflix.
Sources
- DOJ official release
- BBC News coverage
- PetaPixel on hostel photo
- Yahoo News on photo ID
- El País article on cultural impact