Luigi Mangione was ‘anti-woke’, says friend as he reveals regret over last messages with Brian Thompson ‘assassin’

A friend of Luigi Mangione has provided deeper insight into the alleged killer’s political views – and what may have radicalized him.

Gurwinder Bhogal, a British writer, told DailyMail.com that Mangione was “anti-woke” and that he expressed deep envy for Britain’s nationalized healthcare system.

Bhogal, who lives in Birmingham, England, suggested that Mangione, who has been charged in the fatal shooting of health insurance CEO Brian Thompson, may be radicalized by what he reads on social media.

“Luigi sent me a Twitter DM on June 10, asking me to show him how to manage his social media feeds,” he told DailyMail.com.

“I forgot to contact him, and part of me wonders if, if I had helped him find good sources of information earlier, he would still have shot the CEO.”

The pair started speaking when Mangione, 26, became interested in Bhogal’s blog about politics and “the digital age” called The Prism and contacted him at X.

Bhogal said they exchanged more than a dozen emails, seen by DailyMail.com, before sharing a two-hour video chat while Mangione was traveling in Japan.

“At some points he was on the left and at other points he was on the right,” Bhogal recalls. “For example, he was pro-equal opportunity, but anti-woke: for example, anti-DEI (and) anti-identity politics.

“He was against wokeism because he didn’t believe it was an effective way to help minorities.

“He showed an interest in more rational, evidence-based forms of compassion, such as effective altruism.”

“We briefly touched on the differences between the British and American healthcare systems,” Bhogal added.

‘Luigi complained about how expensive healthcare was in the US, and expressed envy at Britain’s nationalized healthcare system.’

Bhogal said they also discussed Ted Kaczynski, the “Unabomber” who used terrorism to campaign against modern technology. Mangione previously appeared to praise Kaczynski on Goodreads.

“Luigi disapproved of the Unabomber’s actions, but was fascinated by his ideology and shared his concerns about rampant consumerism that is gradually eroding our agency and alienating us from ourselves,” Bhogal said.

‘He expressed his fears about smartphone addiction. Luigi asked me how we can maximize freedom of choice in a world that is constantly trying to rob us, so we talked about that too.

“On the whole, the impression I got of him was, in addition to his curiosity and kindness, a deep concern for the future of humanity, and a determination to improve himself and the world.”

Bhogal said his overriding impression of Mangione was that he was “one of the nicest people I’ve ever met,” even buying him a subscription to Readwise Reader, an app designed to help users retain more information from books .

The writer said he was “stunned” when his friend was charged Monday in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

“He was so attentive and polite that he seemed like the last person I would suspect of killing someone,” Bhogal told DailyMail.com.

Mangione, an Ivy League engineering graduate, was arrested Monday morning after eating a hash brown at a McDonald’s in Altoona, PA.

Police spotted the alleged killer after a restaurant employee recognized him from surveillance footage the NYPD shared online after the shooting in Midtown Manhattan.

He was later charged with manslaughter for the killing of Thompson, 50, just before 7am on Wednesday outside the Hilton hotel, where the executive was due to give a speech later that day to fund heavy hitters.

Police spotted the alleged killer after a restaurant employee recognized him from surveillance footage the NYPD shared online after the shooting in Midtown Manhattan.

Mangione appears to have led police on a 280-mile manhunt from New York City’s 6th Avenue to the small Pennsylvania town of Altoona, about 100 miles east of Pittsburgh.

He left a trail of overt clues as to his motive, including ammunition with the words “delay,” “deny” and “depose” and a bag of Monopoly board game money left in his backpack in Central Park.

Officials believe the bullet etchings refer to the ‘three D’s of insurance’ – tactics used by US insurance giants to deny patient claims.

This motive seemed to be outlined even more clearly in a handwritten manifesto that police seized from Mangione during his arrest on Monday, which NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said showed “ill will toward corporate America.” expressed.

“For the sake of the FBI, I will keep this short because I respect what you do for our country,” Mangione wrote in the three-page document. “To spare you a lengthy investigation, I clearly state that I have not collaborated with anyone.”

“I apologize for any conflict or trauma, but it had to be done,” Mangione added in the document. “Honestly, these parasites just got it.”

Mangione is also believed to have had a ghost gun with him, believed to be the rare World War II-inspired 9mm pistol used in Thompson’s murder. which the New York Post reported was a Swiss-made Brugger & Thomet VP9, ​​and a silencer.

During his arraignment at the Blair County Courthouse in Pennsylvania on Monday evening, he was denied bond and was not represented by an attorney. Mangione will appear in court in New York at a later date.