The Sunday Read: ‘The Strange, Post-Partisan Popularity of the Unabomber'
Online, there is a name for the experience of finding sympathy with Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber: Tedpilling. To be Tedpilled means to read Paragraph 1 of Kaczynski's manifesto, its assertion that the mad dash of technological advancement since the Industrial Revolution has 'made life unfulfilling,' 'led to widespread psychological suffering' and 'inflicted severe damage on the natural world,' and think, Well, sure.
Since Kaczynski's death by suicide in a federal prison in North Carolina nearly two years ago, the taboo surrounding the figure has been weakening. This is especially true on the right, where pessimism and paranoia about technology — largely the province of the left not long ago — have spread on the heels of the coronavirus pandemic and efforts to police speech on social media platforms.
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Luigi Mangione had diary where he wrote about plans to kill UnitedHealthcare CEO
The Brief Court documents are shedding new light on the murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson. New York state prosecutors say Luigi Mangione had a diary where he wrote about his plans to kill the healthcare executive, months before he was gunned down in New York City. In Wednesday's 82-page filing, prosecutors justified adding terrorism to Mangione's first-degree murder charge. NEW YORK (FOX 9) - Prosecutors say, to Mangione, Thompson and UnitedHealthcare were symbols of the healthcare industry and what the 27-year-old considered a deadly greed-fueled cartel. What we know When Luigi Mangione was arrested by police in Altoona, Pennsylvania, last December, prosecutors say they recovered a red notebook he used as a diary among his possessions. They say the diary includes several entries that explain Mangione's intent and motive to deliberately assassinate Brian Thompson, the CEO of United Healthcare, the country's largest health insurance company. The backstory Prosecutors say an entry in August 2024 reads, "I finally feel confident about what I will do. The details are coming together. And I don't feel any doubt about whether its right/justified." He goes on to write, "The target is insurance. It checks every box." Then, in October of last year, about a month and a half before Thompson was shot and killed outside the midtown Manhattan hotel where United Healthcare's annual investors conference was scheduled to be held, Mangione writes: "The investor conference is a true windfall. It embodies everything wrong with our health system, and - most importantly -- the message becomes self-evident." Prosecutors say Mangione references Ted Kaczynski, saying the Unabomber made some good points, but he crossed the line from anarchist to terrorist by indiscriminately mail bombing innocent people. In his diary, prosecutors say Mangione writes "...instead of carrying out a bombing, one should "wack" the CEO at the annual parasitic bean counter convention. It's targeted, precise and doesn't risk innocents." "The point is made in the news headline 'Insurance CEO killed at annual investors conference.'" What they're saying In the filing, prosecutors wrote, "If ever there were an open and shut case pointing to defendant's guilt, this case is that case. Simply put, one would be hard-pressed to find a case with such overwhelming evidence of guilt as to the identity of the murderer and the premeditated nature of the assassination."
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2 days ago
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Revealed: Luigi Mangione kept diary of plans to kill health boss
Luigi Mangione spent months meticulously planning to assassinate the head of America's biggest health insurance company, his newly published diaries suggest. Court documents filed by prosecutors show that Mr Mangione was in possession of a red notebook when he was arrested for the murder of Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, who was shot dead in the centre of Manhattan. The diary, filed in evidence by prosecutors on Wednesday, was found on Mr Mangione when he was detained at a Pennsylvanian McDonald's in December 2024 following a five-day manhunt. In the notepad, Mr Mangione outlined his plot to carry out the killing, vented about his frustrations with the health insurance industry and focused on winning over public opinion, musing that his actions would garner even greater support than Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber, received. 'So say you want to rebel against the deadly, greed fuelled health insurance cartel. Do you bomb the HQ? No. Bombs=terrorism,' Mr Mangione allegedly wrote in August 2024. 'Such actions appear the unjustified anger of someone who simply got sick/had bad luck and took their frustration out on the insurance industry, while recklessly endangering countless employees.' That same month, he appeared to select his victim. 'The target is insurance. It checks every box,' an entry from Aug 15 reads. Mr Mangione allegedly planned to 'whack' Mr Thompson at a 'parasitic bean-counter convention' as it 'doesn't risk innocents… The point is made in the news headline 'Insurance CEO killed at annual investors conference.'' From October, Mr Mangione appeared to be counting down the days until the killing took place. '1.5 months. The investor conference is a true windfall. It embodies everything wrong with our health system, and-most importantly the message becomes self-evident,' one entry reads. At the time, Mr Mangione is said to have lost contact with his family who lived in an affluent Baltimore suburb and had raised him to become high school valedictorian and an Ivy League graduate. The previously unreported diary entries shed light on Mr Mangione's plan to target the insurance industry, which prosecutors claim has triggered a wave of threats against health insurance workers. Following his arrest, Mr Mangione has become a cult-like figure, eliciting outpourings of support on certain corners of social media. In a further diary entry shared in the court filing, Mr Mangione allegedly apologised to federal officers who chased him down. 'To save you a lengthy investigation, I state plainly I wasn't working with anyone,' the scrawled handwritten note said. 'I do apologise for any strife or trauma but it had to be done.' Mr Mangione is said to have been influenced by the Unabomber, whom he described as an 'extreme political revolutionary' on his GoodReads account. Elsewhere in the notebook, entries suggest Mr Mangione had previously weighed up another target, known as 'KMD', before selecting Mr Thompson as his victim. 'KMD would have been an unjustified catastrophe,' an entry reads. Despite the alleged diary's confessions, Mr Mangione, 27, has pleaded not guilty to both state and federal charges in connection with the killing. If convicted on all counts he will face a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole, though federal prosecutors have filed a notice seeking the death penalty. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
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Luigi Mangione's Handwritten Journal Sheds New Light On His State Of Mind
Luigi Mangione, the 27-year-old accused in the brazen shooting death of United HealthCare CEO Brian Thompson, had allegedly hardened his resolve to make a statement about American health care by August 15 of last year. On that date, he allegedly wrote in a red notebook, 'I finally feel confident about what I will do. The details are coming together. And I don't feel any doubt about whether it's right/justified.' 'I'm glad — in a way — that I've procrastinated bc it allowed me to learn more about UHC.' Prosecutors included select handwritten pages of a journal used by Mangione in a new 82-page filing on Wednesday that sheds new light on the thought he put into the alleged crime, including analysis of how it would be perceived by the public. Mangione appears to have also considered a different target — someone with the initials 'KMD' — before deciding against it. 'KMD would've been an unjustified catastrophe that would be perceived mostly as sick, but more importantly unhelpful. Would do nothing to spread awareness/improve people's lives,' Mangione allegedly wrote. 'The target is insurance. It checks every box.' On October 22, around one-and-a-half months before Thompson's death, Mangione allegedly wrote that 'the problem with most revolutionary acts is that the message is lost on normies.' 'For example, Ted K makes some good points on the future of humanity, but to make his point he indiscriminately mailbombs innocents,' Mangione allegedly wrote, referencing the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski. Mangione previously left a Goodreads review on Kaczynski's book, 'Industrial Society and Its Future,' saying it was 'impossible to ignore how prescient many of his predictions about modern society turned out.' The journal entry went on: 'Normies categorize him as an insane serial killer, focus on the act/atrocities themselves, and dismiss his ideas. And most importantly — by committing indiscriminate atrocities he becomes a monster, which makes his ideas those of a monster, no matter how true. He crosses the line from revolutionary anarchist to terrorist — the worst thing a person can be.' 'This is the problem with most militants that rebel against — often real — injustices: they commit an atrocity whose horror either outweighs the impact of their message, or whose distance from their message prevents normies from connecting the dots,' the entry said. 'Consequently, the revolutionary idea becomes associated with extremism, incoherence or evil — an idea that no reasonable member of society could approve of. Rather than win public support, they lose it. The revolutionary actions are actively counter-productive.' Mangione, who allegedly called himself a 'revolutionary anarchist' in the notebook, has inspired support across the country from Americans frustrated with morbidly expensive U.S. health care. The court filing reveals that Mangione appears to have crossed paths with Thompson the day before the shooting, as he seemed to talk on his cell phone while walking down a Manhattan street by Thompson's hotel. Mangione allegedly spent approximately 23 minutes lying in wait outside the hotel on Dec. 4 before spotting Thompson. A figure dressed in black with a backpack is seen in security footage swiftly approaching the CEO from behind and firing several quick shots before fleeing the scene. A massive manhunt ended five days later when Mangione was spotted at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania. The notebook was among the items he allegedly had with him at the time of his arrest. Prosecutors spent part of the filing arguing for a terrorism enhancement if or when Mangione is sentenced, saying Thompson's murder was engineered to strike fear in those who profit greatly off U.S. health care. They gave examples of the impact: some United HealthCare employees apparently quit out of fear of retaliation, many received security details, and one executive dyed her hair and moved due to threats. Some UHC employees were afraid to send out letters denying coverage, successfully petitioning the company to allow them to keep their names off the letters in spite of certain state laws that require them to do so. They also dismissed the suggestion outlined in the notebook that narrowing the scope of violence to one symbolic person was morally correct. 'You don't get a trophy or any kind of absolution under New York's anti-terrorism law because you only killed one innocent person and not others,' prosecutors said.
