A 262-word “manifesto” published online “largely resembled” the handwritten document found when Luigi Mangione was arrested in Pennsylvania on Monday, law enforcement sources told at least one other media outlet.
Mangione, 26, has been charged with second degree murder in the shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York Last week. The brazen shooting sparked a manhunt for the gunman, who was captured in multiple videos and surveillance footage during his 10 day stay in the city before the shooting, but he slipped out of town, apparently on a Greyhound bus, shortly after.
He was arrested at a McDonald’s in Altoona after an employee recognized him and called 911. Along with the manifesto, police found multiple fake IDs — including a New Jersey driver’s license that New York police said he used to check into a hostel when he arrived in the city — and a ghost gun that police believe he used in the shooting.
He was charged with carrying a gun without a license, forgery, falsely identifying himself to authorities, and possessing “instruments of crime” in Pennsylvania and is fighting extradition to New York, where he is charged with second degree murder, possession of a loaded firearm, possession of a forged instrument, and criminal possession of a weapon.
The manifesto was first published by former Intercept journalist Ken Klippenstein, who did not say how he obtained it. Klippenstein claimed that other, major media outlets had also obtained the document but have so far not published it.
The Daily Beast reported that law enforcement sources told them it “largely resembled” the document found on Mangione, but that they “could not verify the exact text because of potential handwriting discrepancies.”
The text also matches segments posted by NBC News, which reported some law enforcement sources said they were concerned that reading the note might cause other people to act in a similar manner to Mangione.
Here’s what Klippenstein posted:
“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, basic CAD, a lot of patience. The spiral notebook, if present, has some straggling notes and To Do 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 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 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 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), 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.”
It’s not clear when the text was written or if the “spiral notebook” mentioned was found when Mangione was arrested. Klippenstein did not post an image of the actual document.
Mangione is from a prominent Maryland family and graduated with a masters degree from the University of Pennsylvania.
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[Featured image: Luigi Mangione/Pennsylvania Department of Corrections]
