A viral post shared on X claims Luigi Mangione, the man who is accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, purportedly published a manifesto on Substack.
This is allegedly Luigi’s manifesto pic.twitter.com/CbxKEgwkba
— Dark Hegel™️ (@Dialectiks) December 10, 2024
Verdict: False
The claim is false as the purported manifesto is fake. Mangione’s actual manifesto was published by Newsweek on Dec. 11. A spokesperson for Substack denied the claim’s validity in an email to Check Your Fact.
Fact Check:
The McDonald’s restaurant in Altoona, Pennsylvania, where Mangione was arrested, has received a flood of negative reviews, according to Newsweek. Google has since removed the negative reviews, the outlet reported.
The X post, which has amassed over five million views as of writing, claims Mangione purportedly published a manifesto on Substack.
“This is allegedly Luigi’s manifesto,” the post reads. The post also includes screenshots of the purported manifesto titled “The Allopathic Complex and Its Consequences,” which details Mangione’s apparent grievances with the insurance industry as a result of his mother’s experiences with neuropathy and his experiences with chronic back pain.
The claim is false. According to a post shared on X by user @quantian1, the purported manifesto is fake, as the Substack account was only two hours old at the time the writing went live. A screenshot included in the post shows the publication, “LM Publication,” with a timestamp of “Launched 2 hours ago.”
Fake, only 2 hours old. pic.twitter.com/2SFSCco6s2
— Quantіan (@quantian1) December 10, 2024
Likewise, according to Newsweek, the Substack account that published the purported manifesto appears to have been launched on Dec. 9, with a screenshot from the internet archive site, the Wayback Machine showing the publication had been live for two hours as of 9:43 p.m. ET. The outlet indicated that the purported manifesto was “unverified.” [Note: Please make sure my verbiage isn’t too close to Newsweek’s. Thanks!]
Additionally, independent journalist Ken Klippenstein released what appears to be Mangione’s actual manifesto. The same document was published by Newsweek on December 11 but makes no mention of Mangione’s mother or her supposed experiences with neuropathy.
The document does, however, express Mangione’s frustration at insurance prices in the U.S., with him stating, “Frankly, these parasites simply had it coming.” (RELATED: Viral Video Of Sidewalk Celebration In New York Not Linked To CEO’s Recent Murder)
Check Your Fact found no credible news reports to support the claim, either. In fact, the opposite is true. On December 10, Lead Stories debunked the claim.
Furthermore, a spokesperson for Substack denied the claim’s validity in an email to Check Your Fact.
“We’ve removed this post for violating Substack’s Content Guidelines, which prohibit impersonation,” the same spokesperson said.
Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, was shot and killed in New York on Dec. 4 while on his way to UnitedHealth Group’s annual investor conference, The Associated Press reported.