Luigi Mangione latest: Ghost gun found on suspected killer matches casings found at UnitedHealthcare CEO’s murder

The CEO of UnitedHealth Group, the parent company to UnitedHealthcare, called Brian Thompson “one of the good guys,” according to a new memo.

“Brian was one of the good guys,” Andrew Witty wrote of the slain United Healthcare CEO, according to the note obtained by Newsweek.

“He was certainly one of the smartest guys. I think he was one of the best guys. I’m going to miss him. And I am incredibly proud to call him my friend.”

He continued: “As we begin to move forward, the best way to honor his life and all that he stood for is to carry on his legacy — continuing to do right by the people who’ve entrusted us with their care and those who are counting on us to take care of their loved ones.”

Shark Tank investor Kevin O’Leary has urged health insurance executives to wake up and “read the room” in the wake of the UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s murder in Midtown Manhattan last week.

The O’Leary Ventures chairman said that executives should realize that the public is turning against them, and that bolstering their security isn’t the answer.

“If anything good is going to come of this, it’s going to be policy change because you’ve basically got people lighting up their torches, just like in the Frankenstein story and going to the castle, and they’re going to burn it down,” O’Leary said on CNN.

“And you got to hear that, so if you’re an executive saying, ‘get me more security guards,’ wrong answer. That’s just wrong.”

O’Leary said the backlash is emanating from social media.

He added: “Social media is now the jury, and it doesn’t like what it sees.”

The New York Police Department issued a bulletin on Tuesday warning that health insurance executives might be at risk after “wanted” posters featuring their images and salaries appeared around Manhattan.

The bulletin notes that the shooter’s actions could have the “capability to inspire a variety of extremists and grievance-driven malicious actors to violence,” which was first reported by ABC News.

“Both prior to and after the suspected perpetrator’s identification and arrest, some online users across social media platforms reacted positively to the killing, encouraged future targeting of similar executives, and shared conspiracy theories regarding the shooting,” the bulletin added.

Graig Graziosi has the story.

Luigi Mangione has been charged with murder in connection to the death of the UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside his Manhattan hotel on December 4.

Mangione, 26, was spotted eating a meal inside a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on Monday morning, with an employee calling the tip into police.

He is currently being held in a Pennsylvania jail without bond as he awaits extradition to New York where he faces a murder charge. He also faces charges for gun law violations in Pennsylvania.

A pro dancer on Dancing with the Stars has joked about having Luigi Mangione on the next season of the show.

Ezra Sosa, who was partnered with convicted felon Anna Delvey during the most recent season, posted a TikTok with a photo of Mangione in the background. “He finna be my partner season 34 [sic],” he captioned the video.

Mangione was arrested on Monday (December 9) and charged with second-degree murder in connection the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on December 4 outside the Hilton Hotel in Midtown, New York City.

Brittany Miller has the story.

“He had a lot of things going for him,” Ellison Jordan, who graduated from the Gilman School alongside 26-year-old Luigi Mangione, told The Independent. “He was always cool people.”

Jordan attended Gilman, a prestigious all-boys prep school in Baltimore, with Mangione, and found him to be “a smart dude,” and “a regular guy,” he said on Tuesday.

“I’m being sensitive to Luigi, because I went to school with him,” Jordan, who has not spoken to the media previously about Mangione, went on. “I hope he didn’t do it. I’m praying he didn’t do it. It’s still ‘allegedly.’ It’s really shocking.”

Justin Rohrlich has the details.

Luigi Mangione’s lawyer is a seasoned trial attorney based in Pennsylvania with more than 40 years of experience.

Thomas Dickey was brought onto the case on Tuesday, one day after his client was arrested in a McDonald’s in the town of Altoona. The 26-year-old now faces a second-degree murder charge in connection to the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson by New York prosecutors who are seeking his extradition to the state.

Dickey said he expects his client will plead not guilty.

Rhian Lubin has the full details.

Senator Ed Markey has called for the ban of 3D-printed ghost guns, similar to the weapon found on shooting suspect Luigi Mangione and the one used in the killing of Brian Thompson.

The Massachusetts lawmaker proposed the passing of the “3D Printed Gun Safety Act” to stop the “proliferation of these dangerous guns”.

“3D printed ghost guns are untraceable homemade weapons that can evade metal detectors. We must pass my 3D Printed Gun Safety Act and stop the proliferation of these dangerous guns,” the Democrat wrote on X on Wednesday.

The weapon carried by Mangione upon his arrest on Monday, which police believe to be 3D printed, matches there shell casings at the crime scene in Midtown Manhattan last Wednesday, according to NYPD commissioner Jessica Tisch.

But once found, the circus didn’t stop there. As well as identifying the suspect, social media sleuths tracked down his LinkedIn, Twitter – even his Goodreads – profiles. And just as fast came the memes, objectification and reactionary vlogs.

First, BookTok began analysing his taste in literature, questioning whether Harry Potter and the Hunger Games books “radicalised” him (in all seriousness, he did review the Unabomber’s manifesto, calling Ted Kaczynski “an extreme political revolutionary”).

Emma Clarke’s analysis in full is below.

Many of the coins listed on crypto sites like pump.fun sport supportive names including “Free Luigi Mangione” and “Justice for Luigi Mangione.”

One such coin, simply named Luigi, launched on Monday, the same day Mangione was charged with murder in New York. It briefly achieved a market capitalization of more than $76 million dollars.

“When someone outside the crypto-bubble … encounters headlines like this, they view it as absolutely insanity,” Alex Beene, a financial literacy instructor for the University of Tennessee at Martin told Newsweek of the phenomenon.