Suspect Apprehended

Plus: Syria developments, Penny acquittal, and more...

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 looking to permanently occupy more parts of Syria," said an Israeli official. The Israeli military also seized the highest point on the border between Israel and Syria, a strategic military outpost that Syria had controlled up until now.

The demilitarized zone in this area was established in 1974, following the Yom Kippur War, and "has been manned for decades by UN peacekeepers," per a Times of Israel report. "However, Israel said Sunday that with the fall of the Assad regime, it considered the agreement void until order is restored in Syria." Israeli officials have already started to hedge, though, saying that occupation of the zone may be needed for a while. More here; more on prisoners being freed and torture endured by those living under the Assad regime here; and more on HTS and power struggles here.

---

Scenes from New York: Daniel Penny, the Marine who killed Jordan Neely, a homeless man who had been behaving erratically on the subway, was acquitted of all charges, including manslaughter (which the jury had, for a few days, been deadlocked on) and the lesser charge, criminally negligent homicide.

There have been lots of takes circulating about how Neely needed care, and was denied it by a cruel and unfeeling city that leaves homeless and mentally ill people in the lurch. This narrative does not hold up: Neely had actually agreed to 15 months of mental health treatment following a guilty plea to a 2021 assault of a 67-year-old woman; he left the program after just a few weeks. He needed help, it was offered to him, and he did not avail himself of it.

What are the people in a subway car supposed to do while he is threatening them? How should they know he is unarmed? Is "unarmed" synonymous with "not a threat"? What sort of "support" should they have given him, and how many times, and for how long? https://t.co/vYpYzC616T

— Liz Wolfe (@LizWolfeReason) December 10, 2024

---

QUICK HITS

• "NASA is delaying its first moon landing in more than 50 years by several months to 2027, as engineers at the agency race to fix critical safety issues with the hardware and adjust plans needed for future flights," reports Bloomberg. 
• New Zealand is banning greyhound racing.
• Markets in everything: professional scratching.
• I went on Mike Pesca's podcast Not Even Mad and debated as the token conservatarian. Got to promote Just Asking Questions as well!
• A very good piece ("America's best-known practitioner of youth gender medicine is being sued," by Jesse Singal):

This, by @jessesingal, should be read by every single person arguing that minors aren't being rushed or pushed into transition, that gender doctors know exactly what they're doing, and that those with questions must be bigots driven by hatred.https://t.co/XK6maRrRsG

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) December 6, 2024

• It's the VERY LAST DAY OF OUR WEBATHON and thus your final opportunity to endorse THIS NEWSLETTER HERE to the great powers that be (though it's not like we really turn away cash if you give it to us next week). To those who have already given: Thank you so much for supporting our journalism (and for the exceedingly kind notes you sent about this newsletter; I read all of them!). To those who may not be in a financial position to give, but still spend part of their mornings reading this: Thank you for the gift of your time and attention, it is such a delight getting to write for every single one of you. Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah!