CEO Shooting Latest: Luigi Mangione Arrested, Charged With Murder
Plus, the transition of power in Syria is underway and Daniel Penny is acquitted in Jordan Neely's death on NYC subway
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Good morning,
As chocolate treats pop up everywhere this holiday season, there is some good news: a new observational study found that eating at least five small servings of dark chocolate each week may lower the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 21%.
Why? Cocoa has compounds called polyphenols, which have the effect in humans of fighting inflammation, lowering blood pressure, and boosting moods.
The data comes from around 192,000 adults who completed a questionnaire every four years for 25 years.
The bad news: Milk chocolate lovers won’t see the same benefits when consuming the more sugary alternative.
🍫 Enjoy some for us!
Mosheh, Jill, Sari, & Lauren
PS: Please take a few minutes to fill out our audience survey at mo.news/feedback. Your feedback will help us create content that speaks to the people who matter most: you, our community! The survey is open until Friday, December 13.
📌 LUIGI MANGIONE: WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT 26-YEAR-OLD INSURANCE CEO SHOOTING SUSPECT
Police on Monday arrested Luigi Mangione, 26, in connection to the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Manhattan last Wednesday.
The five-day manhunt ended at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania — nearly 300 miles from New York City — after an employee recognized Mangione from police photos.
THE ARREST
Law enforcement found Mangione in possession of a ghost gun that matched the type used in the shooting, which police say was made using a 3D-printer, as well as a 3D-printed silencer. Mangione had nearly $10,000 in cash (including foreign currency) and a fake New Jersey ID under the name “Mark Rosario,” which the shooter reportedly also used to check into an Upper West Side hostel on November 24.
There’s more: Mangione also had a three-page handwritten manifesto on him that criticized the healthcare industry.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the manifesto offers insights into Mangione’s “motivation and mindset.”
The manifesto read, “These parasites had it coming” and “I do apologize for any strife and trauma, but it had to be done,” a police official said.
Remember, the bullet shell casings from the crime scene were engraved with the words “deny,” “depose,” and “defend” — terms associated with rejected health coverage claims.
Mangione currently faces gun charges in Pennsylvania, and is being held without bail there. Late Monday, NY authorities also charged him with murder. He will likely face extradition to NY in the near future to face those charges.
WHO IS HE?
Mangione came from a life of comfort and privilege, part of a prominent Baltimore family that owns multiple country clubs.
He was the 2016 valedictorian of a prestigious, all-boys high school in Baltimore, Maryland (where tuition is around $40,000 a year). He received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in computer science and engineering from the University of Pennsylvania.
Mangione’s family made their wealth from a chain of nursing homes, in addition to real estate and a radio station. However, Mangione reportedly lost contact with his family about a year ago.
Among the most telling things found online about Mangione is a complimentary review he posted on a book written by the Unabomber – Theodore Kaczynski.
HIS MOTIVE
Mangione posted extensively on social media about his animosity towards the capitalist system, and was critical of the healthcare system. It appears his struggles with a back injury (related to a surfing accident), coincided with increased isolation from family and friends in the last year.
There is an image of his spine with what appears to be stabilizing rods on his LinkedIn and other online profiles.
More information is expected in the coming days. 📲 The Mo News Instagram will have the latest updates.
📌 WHAT’S NEXT IN SYRIA, AS ISLAMIST REBELS CEMENT CONTROL?
Syria is undergoing a major political transition following the ousting of longtime dictator Bashar al-Assad by rebel forces over the weekend.
Leaders of the largest group in the rebel coalition, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), are steering the transition. HTS was originally founded as an affiliate of al Qaeda, but the groups had a split several years ago as HTS made its focus just about Syria.
INSIDE THE DEVELOPMENTS
HTS leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani has appointed Mohammad al-Bashir as the temporary prime minister in charge of forming a transitional government.
The former prime minister, and other Assad allies, have agreed to a peaceful transfer of power, and even met with rebel leaders to begin the process.
The HTS-led coalition has promised full amnesty for Syrians who fought for Assad – and against the rebels – during the country’s devastating 13-year civil war, which claimed more than 600,000 lives and displaced around 14 million Syrians.
The rebel groups have opened Syria’s borders with Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq to facilitate the return of refugees.
Some refugees who have been displaced in the last decade are returning to Syria in the hopes that they can finally return home, and will be reunited with loved ones who have been unlawfully detained for years under the Assad regime.
Up to 20,000 prisoners, many political dissidents who had secretive sham trials, were held in Sednaya Prison (nicknamed the “Human Slaughterhouse”) under the Assad family’s half-century in power. Some were reportedly locked up in basement torture complexes that only the regime knew how to access, and people are using all sorts of tools and methods to try and break them out now.
INTERNATIONAL REACTIONS
A senior U.S. official remarked that while HTS – an Islamist fundamentalist group that is designated a terrorist organization by the U.S., U.N., and Europe – is “saying the right things” when it comes to ruling the religiously diverse Syrian population, it is too early to gauge its long-term plans for Syria.
Officials said they have not ruled out taking HTS off the U.S. terrorist list – saying they have to be “pragmatic about the realities on the ground.”
Meanwhile, the U.S. will maintain its 900 troops in eastern Syria, mainly to guard against a resurgence of ISIS fighters.
Other countries have also been conducting their own operations in Syria in the last 48 hours, seeking to protect their interests in the region, with so much up in the air.
Israel has been launching airstrikes on chemical weapons and missiles sites left behind by the former regime, to prevent them from coming under the control of hostile actors who could try to use the ammo against Israel.
Israeli forces are also occupying a small portion of land in Syria that is part of a buffer zone from a 1973 truce, until the future in Syria is clearer.
Turkey is occupying a significant piece of land in northern Syria that it is using to attack Kurdish forces on its border with Syria. Turkey sees the Kurds as an enemy because the group is interested in an autonomous country that would partially encompass eastern Turkey.
Iran, a former backer of Assad’s regime, is now engaging directly with Syria’s new leadership. This is a strategic move to avoid hostility between the nations, as Syria remains crucial to Iran’s regional interests, including access to the Mediterranean, proximity to Israel, and supply routes for Hezbollah.
📌 NYC SUBWAY CHOKEHOLD CASE ENDS WITH DANIEL PENNY’S ACQUITTAL
A Manhattan jury found Daniel Penny, a 26-year-old former Marine, not guilty of criminally negligent homicide on Monday, in the highly publicized chokehold death of Jordan Neely on the New York City subway.
The decision comes after the judge dismissed the more serious second-degree manslaughter charge on Friday to avoid a mistrial, as jurors twice reported being deadlocked on that count.
INSIDE THE COURTROOM
Prosecutors argued Penny unnecessarily used deadly force in May 2023, when he put 30-year-old Neely in a chokehold onboard a train for several minutes, until Neely stopped moving. Police officers pronounced him dead at the scene.
Neely was a street performer who struggled with mental health challenges, drug abuse, and homelessness. He had been arrested more than 40 times, including for assault.
Penny’s defense maintained that Neely was threatening passengers and that Penny acted to protect others.
They also disputed the medical examiner’s findings that the chokehold caused Neely’s death.
Penny faced a maximum 15-year sentence for second-degree manslaughter and up to four years behind bars if convicted of negligent homicide.
Monday’s verdict means prosecutors failed to prove that Penny caused Neely’s death with criminal negligence, or that his actions were unjustified. Since prosecutors asked the judge to dismiss the second-degree manslaughter charge, they likely will not be able to appeal, and the case is closed.
THE BACKLASH
Bystander video of the 2023 scene went viral – sparking weeks of protests and a national discussion about mental illness, violence, and race, given that Penny is white and Neely is Black.
⏳ SPEED READ
🚨NATION
📌 Lara Trump leaves RNC amid Senate chatter (POLITICO)
📌 Powerful Santa Ana wind event to bring potentially dangerous fire weather to Southern California (CNN)
📌 A Florida ‘condo cliff’ is coming (NBC)
📌 Mass. Rep. Lori Trahan says she was targeted by a bomb threat (NBC)
📌 Biden creates Native American boarding school national monument to mark era of forced assimilation (ABC)
🌎 AROUND THE WORLD
📌 Visiting torched synagogue, Australian PM calls for unity (TIMES OF ISRAEL)
📌 Netanyahu is set to take the witness stand for the first time today in his corruption trial in Israel (AP)
📌 South Korea’s President Yoon is banned from traveling abroad after martial law chaos (AP)
📌 France’s first big #MeToo case goes to trial (LE MONDE)
📌 Passenger arrested after trying to divert flight in Mexico to the U.S. (CNN)
📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH
📌 Nvidia facing antitrust investigation from China (YAHOO)
📌 EPA bans two cancer-linked solvents found in some cleaners, lubricants and glues (ABC)
📌 TikTok says ban would cost U.S. small businesses, creators $1.3 billion in first month (CNBC)
📌 OpenAI launches video generator Sora (AXIOS)
🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT
📌 Golden Globes 2025 nominations: ‘Emilia Perez’ dominates films with 10 nods; ‘The Bear’ leads TV with five (VARIETY)
📌 Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson to make one-night-only Broadway debut in ‘& Juliet’, fulfilling lifelong dream (DEADLINE)
📌 Taylor Swift gifted Eras Tour performers, crew an extra $197M in bonuses in addition to their salaries (PAGE SIX)
📌 Katie Holmes refutes story about daughter Suri Cruise’s fortune (CNN)
🗓 ON THIS DAY: DECEMBER 10
1768: The first installment of the Encyclopedia Britannica — the oldest continuously published and revised English-language reference work — was released for sale in Edinburgh, Scotland.
1906: President Theodore Roosevelt became the first American to win a Nobel Prize.
2009: James Cameron’s “Avatar” premiered in London. The groundbreaking science-fiction epic is the highest-grossing film of all time, with a worldwide box office gross of over $2.9 billion.