Viral images don't show Luigi Mangione's manifesto, which was handwritten | Fact check
The claim: Images show Luigi Mangione's manifesto
A Dec. 10 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) shows screenshots of a lengthy text shared on Substack titled "The Allopathic Complex and Its Consequences."
The Facebook post's caption says the text is the manifesto of Luigi Mangione, the man accused of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Midtown Manhattan on Dec. 4.
The pictured Substack post, which has since been deleted, includes sentences such as, "The second amendment means I am my own chief executive and commander in chief of my own military."
Other versions of the claim were shared on Facebook, Instagram and X.
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The images do not show Mangione's manifesto. The NYPD had not released the suspected shooter's manifesto as of Dec. 17, and the details provided by the police don't match up with the document shown in the post. The real manifesto is shorter and handwritten.
Post doesn't show shooting suspect's manifesto
After a five-day manhunt, Mangione was arrested at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on Dec. 9. He is currently being held in a Pennsylvania prison and is facing the upgraded charges of first and second-degree murder.
A three-page manifesto was found with Mangione at the time of his arrest, according to The New York Times. But the text in the Facebook post is not that manifesto.
There are no credible reports of the police releasing the suspected shooter's manifesto, which NYPD Chief Joseph Kenny said in a Dec. 9 press conference was a "handwritten three-page document."
Fact check: Video doesn't show slain CEO talking about working with Nancy Pelosi
The New York Times reported the document was only 262 words, which is much shorter than the document pictured in the post. Mangione reportedly wrote in the real manifesto, “To save you a lengthy investigation, I state plainly that I wasn’t working with anyone" and condemned companies that “continue to abuse our country for immense profit because the American public has allowed them to get away with it.” These quotes do not appear in the document shared to Facebook.
ABC News also obtained Mangione's manifesto and reported passages in it that do not match the document pictured in the post.
A Substack spokesperson told Paste BN the supposed manifesto was deleted from their platform because it wasn't legitimate.
"We’ve removed this post for violating Substack’s content guidelines, which prohibit impersonation," said the spokesman, who declined to be named.
Paste BN reached out to the NYPD and the user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
PolitiFact also debunked the claim.
Our fact-check sources
- The New York Times, Dec. 9, Suspect in Health Care C.E.O.’s Killing Charged With Murder
- The New York Times, Dec. 11, Suspect in C.E.O. Killing Withdrew From a Life of Privilege and Promise
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