What really moved me to the camp that “Luigi might actually be innocent” was what Luigi said in perhaps his only public statement after being arrested. His lawyer has wisely since told him to shut up, but he did make one shouted public statement to the cameras.

He shouted, “this is extremely out of touch; this is an insult to the intelligence of the American people!”

To me, that doesn’t really sound like the proclamation of a John Brown-type figure. Here’s what John Brown’s words were.

Luigi supposedly planned this elaborate killing down to a T. He even wrote his message on the shell casings. And he wrote a hand-written manifesto. Yet in his one chance so far to speak to the media, did he say, “I apologize for nothing!” Did he say, “Robert Thompson murdered thousands of people; I just brought him justice!” Did he say anything of the sort? Do his words sound like those of a revolutionary, boldly willing to die for his cause?

No. He sounds like a scared kid, caught in over his head, who knows he his being framed and facing potential capital punishment for a crime he didn’t commit. That is how I would sound if I were being charged for those murders. I would probably be shouting something very similar if I were currently being framed for some high-profile murder. It would be an insult to the intelligence of the American people, and I would be rightfully scared and infuriated.

Now, it’s certainly possible that this whole thing was an act. Maybe Luigi just planned that statement to garner public sympathy. IDK. But at least in terms of publicly observable demeanor, he really doesn’t seem like some wild-eyed revolutionary. He seems like a scared kid who knows he’s being framed.