Suspect Apprehended
A Tim Urban bro: The suspected killer of the United Healthcare CEO, Brian Thompson, was found in a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania yesterday. He has been identified as 26-year-old Luigi Mangione.
Mangione had on his person a 3D-printed gun and a silencer, as well as a manifesto detailing his motives. “The handwritten manifesto found on the person of the man detained in Altoona criticized health care companies for putting profits above care, according to a senior law enforcement official,” per The New York Times. The document has not yet been released to the public.
Mangione went to a fancy private school in Maryland, where he was the valedictorian, and then continued on to the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied computer science. He appears to be a fan of writers and podcasters like tech-/history-focused Tim Urban and health/self-improved guru Andrew Huberman, and his X account has a lot of pro-Jonathan Haidt content. In terms of motivation, sources have told the media that Mangione had to have back surgery a few years back, and that he may have had chronic pain issues resulting from a spinal issue. Some have claimed he was messing around with psychedelics to try to alleviate the pain, and that this may have caused a screw to become loose. As of right now, that’s more speculation than a proven hypothesis.
Mangione has been charged in Manhattan with second-degree murder, unlawful possession of a loaded firearm, and possibly a charge for possessing a suppressor.
Syria follow-up: “The leader of the rebel alliance that toppled President Bashar al-Assad of Syria has vowed to pursue and punish those who held senior positions in the Assad government, as uncertainty persists about who will now govern a country torn by more than a decade of civil war,” reports The New York Times.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the terrorist group now in charge, has announced that some members of the Syrian government will receive amnesty, but that it depends on how high up they were. “We will not relent in holding accountable the criminals, murderers, and security and military officers involved in torturing the Syrian people,” said the group’s leader, per a Telegram post. “We will pursue war criminals and work to secure their extradition from the countries to which they have fled, ensuring they face justice.” HTS has also said they will be publishing lists of names of “senior figures implicated in the torture of the Syrian people” under deposed leader Bashar al-Assad.
Assad for years used chemical weapons on his own people, whom he also tortured, killed, and disappeared.
In the last 48 hours, Israel has carried out over 250 airstrikes on Syrian territory, per Al-Monitor. Israel “targeted weapons depots, boats from the Assad government’s navy, and a research centre that Western countries suspected of having links to chemical weapons production….Near the port city of Latakia, Israel targeted an air defence facility and damaged Syrian naval ships as well as military warehouses.”
Israeli forces also annexed the Golan Heights, which marks “the first time Israel has captured territory in Syria since the war in 1973,” per Axios, apparently assuring the Biden administration that it is a temporary move that will last only until the situation stabilizes. “We are not l
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