REDDIT RABBIT HOLE

The Luigi Mangione Fans Trying to Prove He Was Framed in CEO Killing

Grainy images of the alleged CEO assassin have led to conspiracies running amok, with some pondering: Is he just a fall guy?

It’s just not adding up for thousands of people on Reddit, where sleuths have debated for days about whether the alleged security images of Luigi Mangione in New York City are really of him or not.

Discussion has spanned a number of subreddits, including one that’s named after the alleged UnitedHealthcare assassin. However, much of the conspiracy has, perhaps fittingly, centered in the subreddit r/conspiracy.

Skeptics on the channel have broken down each image and pointed out perceived differences between them. That includes the seeming lack of a “unibrow” on the suspect in a snap taken from a Starbucks—the first photo police released last week to include part of the alleged gunman’s face—that was taken just minutes before Mangione is said to have shot 50-year-old Brian Thompson dead on the sidewalk.

That so-called unibrow, which Mangione’s mugshot shows was not a complete one, is more visible in other photos taken in New York. That includes the infamous snap of the suspect smiling with his mask down as he checked into a hostel, as well as a photo of him sitting in the back of a taxi.

Redditors also noted that the photos released by police showed different colored jackets and backpacks—one grey, the other black—being worn by the suspected killer.

“This is an insult to the intelligence of the American people,” one popular post, with over 6,000 likes, is titled on Reddit.

There may be an explanation for these inconsistencies, however, as some on Reddit have already pointed out. Police say Mangione spent 10 days in New York City, arriving before Thanksgiving. That’d give the 26-year-old Ivy League grad plenty of time to make a change in clothes before his alleged slaying on Dec. 4.

Police also revealed that they found a backpack that belonged to Mangione that was abandoned in Central Park, stuffed with monopoly money. Cops in Pennsylvania, where Mangione was arrested on Monday, said that he possessed a backpack there, too, meaning he could have traveled with two separate bags in New York that’d explain the difference in colors.

Driving many conspiracies about Mangione’s arrest—despite police claiming to have a trove of evidence against him, including a manifesto—are people who are skeptical that someone in central Pennsylvania would be able to recognize him with enough confidence to dial up 911.

The Reddit user bfhurricane offered a detailed rebuttal to those questioning the photos released by cops. They said that the lack of unibrow was likely due to the quality of the snaps, each of which were particularly grainy.

As to how someone in a western Pennsylvania McDonald’s apparently recognized Mangione, bfhurricane wrote: “In all likelihood...people in Altoona saw the one guy with a mask in rural Western Pennsylvania and it clicked. And if you know rural Pennsylvanians, you’d know they’re the type to be slightly paranoid and suffer from ‘Main Character Syndrome’ and insert themselves into anything that seems out of place. If you can understand that state of mind, then you’d understand why they’d call the cops over a guy with strong eyebrow game eating suspiciously with his mask on.”

Still, a number of self-proclaimed detectives have their suspicions about Mangione’s arrest. Some have claimed—without evidence—that Mangione was set up by the FBI. Another Reddit comment—with over 1,400 likes—suggests Mangione may merely be a “fall guy” so law enforcement could tout a timely arrest for a crime that’s captured the attention of America.

“Luigi is getting framed, that is not the same person or clothing,” remarked one commenter.

Another wrote, “If this IS a fall guy, how terrifying is the idea that you could be going about your day in your completely mundane existence, and it’s suddenly all turned upside down because the government decided it would be easy to target you for a high profile crime.”

A third Redditor added, perhaps jokingly, “If the brows don’t fit, you must acquit!!”

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Josh FialloBreaking News Reporter

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