Ray William Johnson: True Story Podcast - Luigi Mangione is in big trouble now

Episode Date: January 31, 2025

Luigi Mangione allegedly murdered UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson

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There's no going back. Our directive is clear. Hang on! Tron Aries, now streaming on Disney Plus, rated PG-13. So this guy, his name's Louis. And Luigi, just unalived a man, and people love him for it. So Luigi's got a lot going for him. He was a valedictorian in his high school, he went to an Ivy League university,

and he's generally a charming and friendly dude. And one day, he decides to move to Hawaii. I mean, he's in his 20s, he has a remote job, so why not? And there, Luigi learns to surf. Here's the thing, though. Luigi has had bad back pain since he was a little kid. He actually has a condition called Spondel spondylolis thesis and I guess all the surfing aggravates his spondylolis thesis and his back

starts hurting like crazy. In fact, it's so bad that he's in bed for a week and even after he recovers enough to get out of bed, the pain doesn't really go away. So most days, Luigi's just in pain and it sucks. So he does his research and he starts reading books about chronic back pain and he does everything he can to help himself. But nothing seems to And this back problem is really starting to consume his life. Like he's not sleeping right and he can't surf, he can't have sex. He can't live the active life he wants in Hawaii. So eventually he leaves.

And I don't know exactly where he goes after this, but things continue to get worse. Like the pain is just unbearable. Sometimes his legs feel numb and he just never feels rested. And this is just a bit of speculation on my part because we don't have all the info right now. But it is speculative. that this whole time he's battling with his health insurance provider, trying to get them to cover his treatment. And that unfortunately isn't going too well, as these things generally don't.

And eventually something happens to him that gets him sent to the ER. And from there, he has to schedule a surgery for his back, no matter what it costs. I mean, there's no other way around it. This is ruining his life. So he schedules the surgery, and he gets it, and it's a spinal fusion surgery where Dr. where doctors fuse part of the spine together? And so they do the surgery and after about a week, he's already starting to feel better.

And little by little, he becomes active again. And he goes backpacking through Asia and he ends up in Japan and this is just what he really needed. But again, this is speculation based on how American health insurance works, but it is speculated that during this, he continues to fight with his health insurance provider to get them to cover his back surgery.

And they just keep giving him the runaround, like they are known to do. And by the time he gets back to the U.S., bro has had enough. He's done with these insurance companies, and he's done with the U.S. health care system. And so he decides to do something about it, and he comes up with this insane plan

to assassinate a CEO. So first, he distances himself from his friends and family, and he stops posting online. He basically ghosts everyone for months. Then he gets a bunch of fake IDs, and he 3D prints a pupew and a silencer. Then he takes three bullets and on the casings, he etches the words,

deny, defend, depose on them. Which deny, defend, is a reference to delay deny defend, which is a reference to the shady tactics that American health insurance companies use to deny coverage to people in need. And so after doing that, Luigi gets on a Greyhound bus, and they believe it originated in Atlanta, and he takes that bus all the way up.

to New York City. And there he checks into a hostel and he waits. Ten days later, it's early in the morning and Luigi leaves the hostel and he heads over to the Hilton Hotel. And there, outside the hotel, he waits for about an hour for his target to show up. Then his target does. This guy. Brian. Now Brian is the CEO of United Healthcare, aka the largest health insurance company in the United States. Now allegedly United Healthcare denied more claims every year than any other health insurer. So a lot of Americans really hate this company, including me.

Fuck them. So Brian is just arriving to the hotel for an investors conference, probably to talk about his record profit margins or whatever. But then Luigi sees him walking up, and he walks right up behind him, and he aims his pew-poo at him, and he shoots him in the back, and Brian stumbles and he falls to the ground.

And the whole thing is caught on security footage, Which I can't show you the murder, but you can see Brian here, and obviously Luigi is here. So anyway, Luigi shoots him. Mission accomplished. And he knows he needs to get the hell out of there before police show up. So he jumps on one of those bike share e-bikes, and he flees. And you can actually see him on surveillance footage here, passing by. And so he rides over to Central Park, and he ditches the bike and his backpack and his jacket, and he hails a cab.

And eventually, he ends up at Penn Station. And from there, allegedly, he gets on a train and he flees to Philadelphia. And so Luigi's long gone. His plan worked. He made his escape. And Brian, as you already know, he doesn't make it. But then the news breaks. Tonight, the urgent manhunted New York City after the CEO of one of America's largest health insurers was fatally shot in a brazen targeted attack.

And as crazy as the story is, it doesn't really catch fire with the general public until the public learns about the bullet casings, the ones that had the words deny, defend, pose that's on them. Because this suddenly lets everyone know that the shooter's motive was likely tied to being denied health insurance coverage, something that nearly every American adult has experienced or will experience in their lifetime. And so, real quick, you people who aren't from the United States, I don't think you quite understand. In America, the health insurance business is all run by private corporations. There is no public option. So even if you have insurance and you get sick, or injured, the insurance companies will very often figure out ways to not have to cover you.

Even though you're paying them every month doesn't matter. They will find a way to not cover you. It's a really fucked up system that the general public is absolutely fed up with. And so people learn that Luigi Unalive this healthcare CEO and they start going ape shit. Like people online are defending him saying the shooting was justified. People start putting up wanted posters of other healthcare CEOs. Luigi gets a ton of fans. His social media accounts quickly blow up with hundreds of thousands of new followers

before social media platforms take them all down a few hours later. People are like reposting shirtless pictures of him, thirst trapping over him. Like, oh my God, he's so fine. I mean, people on TikTok are talking about how attractive he is. Every woman in America is thirsting so hard for this Luigi Mangione guy. Yes, he's objectively attractive. And so people from all sides of the political spectrum are cheering him on because he's suddenly become a representative of every American's frustration with the U.S. health care system.

Meanwhile, the NYPD is on a manhunt for Luigi, and they release a few photos of their person of interest, but they don't really know who he is. And he covered his tracks well enough that they can't find him. So the NYPD offers a $10,000 reward for any tips leading to his arrest. Then the FBI offers a $50,000 reward. But so far, no one is snitching, because a lot of people think he's a hero. So then five days go by since the shooting.

And Luigi, he's been hiding out this whole time, and he ends up in Altoona, Pennsylvania. And at one point, I guess he gets hungry, like we all do, and he decides to go eat at a local McDonald's. And while he's there, another customer feels like they recognize him. And they tell an employee, and that employee calls not a nice. Minutes later, police show up and bam, they finally arrest him. Here's his mugshot. And here's some more footage of him. He's in police custody.

Anyway, so he's in jail now waiting on his trial, which will probably happen sometime in 2025. And it's going to be an absolute circus. But I'm sure we'll cover it and I'll keep you updated.