Is Corruption Happening in Front of our Eyes?
The whirlwind that is Luigi Mangione’s case and the intersections of it all.
*this is my first public article so I apologize for any formatting issues or mistakes, I’m still trying to figure Substack out so thank you for your patience*
What happened to the presumption of innocent until proven guilty?
I’ve looked at court and murder cases for fun since I was about 14 years old. I’ve watched the investigation channel for as long as I can remember. Even serial killers who have done far worse crimes than what Luigi is being accused of, have NEVER been treated the way Luigi is currently being treated. It’s almost bizarre. Or is it?
For a brief refresher of how we got to this point, we have to take a look at the events leading up to this.
DECEMBER 4TH 2024
Brian Thompson, former CEO of United Healthcare, is shot from behind by an *unidentified* man. This news shocked the world and almost immediately, people were cheering whoever did it before we even got a face reveal. There were many stories of other people’s experience with healthcare in the US and how much of them got denied the help they desperately need, some of which is needed in order to live. The infamous words “Deny, Defend, Depose” echoed around the world. The NYPD were tasked to search throughout New York to try and find any evidence the shooter may have dropped or lost. The items *allegedly* include a backpack with Monopoly money (keep the backpack in mind!) and a Starbucks cup that the shooter allegedly had that they threw in the trash. A picture was released of the alleged shooter and had captured the hearts of many (men and women both).
DECEMBER 9TH, 2024
Luigi Mangione is arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania. He allegedly had a backpack on him and a “manifesto”. They released 2 pictures of him in 2 different outfits. The first picture is of him in a black jacket. The second (and most concerning in my opinion) is a picture of Luigi standing straight and appears to have wet pants.
The wet pants didn’t just catch my attention, but everyone else’s as well. My question is what was the purpose of the second picture? The first one already made a point, so why take another? How did he wet himself? Why did he not get a change of clothes beforehand? Not to mention……
You can see what I’m seeing, right? They don’t look remotely alike to me. The eyebrows are thicker on Luigi, and he has lips (no shade). The bridges are different. What we’ll see in court is Luigi smiling, which doesn’t match up with the smile on the shooter. Don’t get me wrong, both of them are attractive men, but they’re not the same. Let’s keep going.
We have also learned at this point that he is being charged on 5 different things in the state of Pennsylvania. Forgery, carrying a firearm without license (more on this later), tampering with identification, possessing crime weapon, and providing the police with a fake ID. In court, they alleged that Luigi had about $10,000, some in foreign currency but about 5,000 of it in American cash (the reports on this has been nothing short of conflicting), to which Luigi allegedly claims he didn’t have that much on him and some of it was PLANTED.
Later, we see the infamous clip of Luigi Mangione in a jumpsuit, where we heard him speak to the press, saying (from what I could understand before he was shoved into the brick wall).
“Your coverage of this is completely out of touch and an insult to the intelligence of the American people and their lived experience!”
That night, news outlets stood outside that very prison and saw prisoners flashing their lights in their cells with the cameras rolling. The prisoners shouted from the windows “LUIGI’S CONDITIONS SUCK!!!! FREE LUIGI!!!”. They told the press that Luigi should go ahead and be extradited to New York on federal and state charges, and so……..
DECEMBER 19TH, 2024
Luigi Mangione officially gets extradited to New York, where the infamous perp walk happens. One big spectacle. Cameras all around Luigi, who is surrounded by the NYPD and guess who’s right behind Luigi? None other than Mayor Eric Adams himself! And what is he doing there?
Mayor Eric Adams, at the time, had his own charges of embezzlement, fraud, bribery (and more I’ve potentially missed). Prior to discovering this, both him and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch shamed the public for supporting Luigi, calling his supporters “mentally ill” and “sick”. In those statements, they fully admit there’s mental health crisis, correct? And why is that? Isn’t that a failure on the healthcare system? Very ironic, considering that’s what started this whole fiasco.
During the court hearing for this day, Luigi gets slapped with a terrorism charge, stalking, another count of possessing a firearm, and firing the firearm. A lot of charges to keep up with for one dead CEO.
Are you still here? Good.
Karen requests the discovery of all this evidence to be extradited to her. The prosecutor had claimed that the amount of evidence has been, and I quote, “voluminous”, with thousands of hours of surveillance footage. Luigi plead not guilty for these charges and was send off to MDC.
The month of January was quiet. Luigi waived his right for a formal arraignment, which cancelled his January 24th hearing. During this time, many documentaries were released treating Luigi as if he was guilty of the crime, despite pleading not guilty. Letters of support and books for Luigi flooded MDC.
FEBRUARY 21ST, 2025
The world had not seen Luigi in over 2 months at this point. Protestors and supporters wait at the courthouse, very nerve wrecking and anxious. Very quick session. The aftermath of Luigi Mangione’s hearing on February 21st has sparked anger and confusion throughout the world, leaving more questions than answers, for myself included. Karen Friedman Agnifilo made a speech on how she hasn’t been presented with any of the necessary documents or evidence she needs to go over and defend her client. Luigi came into court shackled from head to toe, remaining shackled the whole session from what insiders have said.
Now we ask the big question…..
What is happening?
Actually, we should be asking more questions.
Why do all of this for ONE CEO? What was the reason for Luigi being shackled the whole time during the last hearing? What danger had he posed to the general public? Why hasn’t Karen gotten any information regarding this alleged evidence? Especially regarding this “gun”, which they said was a ghost gun at one point (that part is really confusing to me)? Are they not doing their jobs (NYPD, Eric Adams, the list goes on and on)? Why wasn’t there cameras in the courtroom so we can see for ourselves what’s going on?
Why hasn’t Luigi gotten a real chance to speak to the press? Charles Manson spoke to the press, Aileen Wuornos spoke to the press, Ted Bundy spoke to the press, even Jeffrey Dahmer spoke to the press. So why is it that when Luigi Mangione tried to speak to the press, that he was pushed up against a brick wall? Why was that necessary?
Maybe this is just me rambling and overthinking what I’m seeing, but I’m starting to suspect that they’re attempting to frame Luigi Mangione as we speak.
I saw 3 different pictures of 3 different men. Sure, they’re all attractive white men, but they don’t look that much alike to me. One has a smaller bridge than Luigi, the guy sitting in McDonald’s looks different from the other 2 as well. It’s almost as if it’s racial profiling, except this time it’s happening to what happens to be a white man.
It also sparks another question of mine that I’m sure some people are not gonna like. If Luigi had been a black man or a woman, any minority in general, would this case be getting as much attention as it has? Would people be as willing to fight and protest if a POC had done the crime? Would this evidence be this hush hush secret or would they have blasted this evidence to the public and not in a documentary? Would there have been a documentary (or several in this case)?
Regardless, from what we can see, Luigi’s right to a fair trial is clearly being violated, as stated in our American Constitution. He allegedly did NOT have his Miranda Rights read to him. Eric Adams had time to disclose undisclosed evidence in a documentary PUBLICLY but cannot send this evidence to Karen so she can defend her client. Keep in mind, Eric Adams has his own charges to worry about.
I’m not writing this to cause any further divide, in fact, I’m hoping by asking these questions, we open our eyes to what’s really happening and just wonder, and ask even more questions that need answers. If anything, I have never seen so many people coming together, united, fighting for the people in power to simply do the right thing. It warms my heart and restores my faith in humanity just a tiny bit.
So what do we do? Are we really watching corruption happen in real time?
My first bit on advice would be to take care of yourselves. Have you eaten today? When was the last time you showered? Have any clean clothes? How do you feel? With the world being uncertain and so many things happening (Genocide in Palestine, fighting for universal healthcare, currently Bibles becoming a requirement for schools in Oklahoma and funding for the disabled being taken away), one can forget to take care of themselves.
Check in with your community, talk to them about what’s happening. We need to be United now more than ever. Open these conversations up, everyone outside the US has, and keep talking about them!!
Educate yourself on how the prison systems work (or just reading in general!). My personal recommendation would be the book “Are Prisons Obsolete?” By Angela Davis, short read and remarkable insight on the prison system!
Now would be a good time to touch up on your history as well, we learn from history so we don’t repeat it! Be open to learning as well, staying curious about various things. Sit with what you’re feeling. Is it anger? Sadness? Confused? Remember that feelings aren’t inherently good or bad, they just are and you are entitled to feel as such.
Of course, this case is only going to be a matter of waiting and seeing. It’s okay to ask questions and you should ask questions. We aren’t dumb, we can see what’s happening.
Just remember if you feel alone in this, you are not. But hey, what do I know? I’m just a writer from Oklahoma. I apologize for this article being so long but I had to get my personal thoughts on all of this out.
What are yours?
Credits to r/FreeLuigi on Reddit, the photographers, and the lovely community!!!
Great article. You show respect by not harping on his physical appearance. Imagine if anything resembling your thoughtful approach could be seen in the msm. There could be real discussion about his innocence.
> It also sparks another question of mine that I’m sure some people are not gonna like. If Luigi had been a black man or a woman, any minority in general, would this case be getting as much attention as it has? Would people be as willing to fight and protest if a POC had done the crime? Would this evidence be this hush hush secret or would they have blasted this evidence to the public and not in a documentary? Would there have been a documentary (or several in this case)?
Luigi's identity had 0 to do with the significance of the case. If anything my gut feeling is it would be bigger. Whites are more likely to view struggle in terms of class, as there is no more visible form of oppression to obscure class. Minorities have an out: they can view struggle in terms of race. I don't believe given the alleged crime, there would be any substantial drop in white support if Luigi was black or a woman. However, for those that opt for a gender or racial frame of oppression, they'd be more likely to see him as a hero and support him for the alleged crime, or as a victim of the system.