This viral image isn’t Luigi Mangione’s real mugshot – it’s AI | Fact check
The claim: Image shows mugshot of Luigi Mangione
A Dec. 22, 2024, Facebook post (direct link, archive link) claims to show a mugshot of Luigi Mangione, the man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
“They’re really trying to make us hate Luigi with these mugshots,” reads the post.
It was shared more than 100 times in 12 days. Similar posts on Facebook, Instagram, X and Threads were shared or liked thousands of additional times.
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Our rating: Altered
The image was generated by artificial intelligence. The user who first posted the image wrote that it was created using image-generating programs. Mangione’s real mugshot was released by police in Pennsylvania after his arrest.
Pennsylvania police released Mangione mugshot after arrest
The image was originally posted on Dec. 11, 2024, by an Instagram user with “Luigi Mangione edits” in their account bio. In the comment section of a different Instagram post, that same user wrote that they used a combination of three different programs – including Midjourney, a popular AI image generator – to create the images of Mangione they posted.
Thompson was shot Dec. 4, 2024, in Midtown Manhattan outside of a hotel where he was expected to speak at an investment conference, as Paste BN previously reported. Mangione, 26, was arrested Dec. 9 at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, after a nearly weeklong manhunt.
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A legitimate mugshot of Mangione was released on social media by the Altoona Police Department on Dec. 10.
Mangione has pleaded not guilty to state-level murder and terrorism charges, and he also faces federal murder and stalking charges that make the death penalty possible if he is convicted.
Paste BN reached out to the social media user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Our fact-check sources
- lui.gimangione, Dec. 11, 2024, Instagram post
- lui.gimangione, accessed Jan. 3, Instagram profile
- lui.gimangione, Dec. 22, 2024, Instagram post
- Hive Moderation, accessed Jan. 3, AI-Generated Content Detection
- TrueMedia, accessed Jan. 3, Is this real?
- Altoona Police Department, Dec. 10, 2024, Facebook post
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