Ever since the fatal shooting last week of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, it’s been assumed that the killer was motivated by antipathy towards the health insurance industry. Once Luigi Mangione was arrested for the murder this week, it appeared that that hypothesis was right.
Mangione’s brief manifesto, as published by journalist Ken Klippenstein, makes clear that he believes the industry is guilty of terrible things.
“These parasites simply had it coming,” the accused killer writes. “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.”
But ironically, it appears that the alleged shooter has some family ties to that very industry.
Country clubs, radio stations, hospital philanthropy, politics: Luigi Mangione’s sprawling family found success after patriarch’s rise https://t.co/EYkwO8Sx71
— Justin Fenton (@justin_fenton) December 9, 2024
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As reported by Newsweek, Mangione’s wealthy family is mostly associated with the real estate business. But Luigi’s grandfather, Nicholas Mangione, built and owned nursing homes and hospitals. Also, per the Baltimore Banner, his grandparents founded Lorian Health Services, described as “a nursing home and assisted living company.” Luigi even volunteered there as a high school student, in order to “fulfill a high school community service requirement,” the Banner said, although he had nothing to do with the management or governance of his family’s company.
Luigi Mangione’s family appears to own Lorien Health Services, a nursing home network in Maryland. He volunteered there in 2014, and his brother is currently a VP. pic.twitter.com/6D4Suv7cr2
— Theo Hockstader 🌲 (@TheoHockstader) December 9, 2024
Earlier this year, Lorien Health Services agreed to pay a $55,000 fine for “allegedly violating the Civil Monetary Penalties Law by retaining overpayments.” Some have attempted to position this as hypocrisy on the shooter’s part, although it’s also possible his antipathy towards the industry is also directed towards his own relatives.
On Google, Lorien Health Services has received mixed customer reviews, with an average score of 2.6 out of 5. When it comes to employee reviews on Indeed, the company fares slightly better, with an average score of 3.3 out of 5.
Also, a bizarre conspiracy theory has emerged, alleging some connection to the killing to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. However, the theory seems very specious, mostly centering on suspiciously timed stock trades, Luigi Mangione and Pelosi both coming from prominent political families in Baltimore — although of opposite parties — and a speech about Pelosi by a CEO named Brian Thompson, who is turns out is a completely different person than the UnitedHealthcare Brian Thompson.
Photo courtesy of Political Tribune media library.
