Summary
Luigi Mangione, charged with the December 2024 murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, released his first public statement through a new website launched by his defense team.
He expressed gratitude for widespread support and acknowledged the letters he has received. The website provides case updates and a fundraiser, which has raised over $400,000.
Mangione has gained a following among those frustrated with the U.S. healthcare system. A poll found 41% of voters under 30 viewed the assassination as acceptable.
His next court date is Feb. 21.
Most of that just shows he was in NYC at the time. The dude is a bi kid that was estranged from his family. His family was trying to get in touch with him for nearly a year, and apparently he’s been living as a drifter in that time. His family is also very wealthy and has the resources to track him down. Is it not possible that he was just trying to hide from his family? Maybe he’s a queer kid and his family rejected that, and he’s broken contact with them. Traveling via a fake ID is a minor crime, but it doesn’t prove that he’s a murderer.
Equally plausible is that the police started putting on the media photos of every person that vaguely resembles the shooter that they could. Luigi saw his own picture on the news, and rightfully freaked the fuck out and decided to flee the city. And the online manifesto? Again, millions of people have written things that could similarly damn them.
Remember, the killer deliberately dressed in an outfit that hundreds of men are wearing in NYC at any given time. Unless you have a continuous video of Luigi going from the hostel, to the crime scene, shooting the guy, then leaving…you don’t actually have much. Yes, I think the police can prove quite easily that Luigi was in the city, and that he was there on a fake ID. But they have precious little actually linking him directly to the crime.
You seem to be under the impression that this trial is going to be fair in any way. It’s a jury trial where the defendant is forbidden from talking to the press while the news media does its best to slander him to the public whenever the case is mentioned. Yes, in an ideal world you’d be right, but the people that need convincing of his guilt are going into the trial with their opinions half-formed against him and I guarantee you that the prosecution will veto any juror that seems like they understand proper standards for evidence.