According to YouTube, cryptic videos posted online were not linked to Luigi Mangione

Several hours after police appeared to make a significant pause in the investigation into the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, a cryptic video was uploaded to YouTube from an account that appears to be linked to the man they arrested as a person of interest was brought in the case.

YouTube suspended the account later on Monday for “violating our identity theft policies, which prohibit content that seeks to impersonate another person on YouTube,” a company spokesperson said Newsweek in an email.

“The channel metadata was updated following widespread reporting of Luigi Mangione’s arrest, including updates to the channel name and username,” the spokesperson said. The company said it also terminated three additional channels “owned by the suspect in accordance with our creator accountability policies. These channels had not posted content in over seven months.”

“If you see this, I’m already under arrest,” said the silent, 84-second clip posted by the account @PepMangione. The username matched other social media accounts belonging to Luigi Mangione, the man arrested on Monday. He was charged in Pennsylvania with forgery and weapons forgery. Mangione was not charged with Thompson’s murder.

The first video message was accompanied by a 60 second countdown. Towards the end of the video, the message “Soon…” appeared on a black screen at the bottom right. At the end of the video, a second caption appeared that read: “Everything is planned, be patient. Bye for now.”

A second video was scheduled to go live at 6:45 p.m. EST on Monday, but YouTube suspended the account before it began streaming after this story was published.

The user’s photo attached to the account was one of Mangione, and a description on their page referenced Mangione’s education at the University of Pennsylvania as well as his age. It said the user joined YouTube on January 20 this year. Monday’s videos appeared to be the only content the account has uploaded in its nearly 11-month existence.

Mangione was arrested that morning at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 275 miles from New York City. Officials said a restaurant employee noticed Mangione, thought he was suspicious and called police.

At an afternoon news conference, New York City Mayor Eric Adams described Mangione as a “strong person of interest” in Thompson’s murder.

NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Mangione was arrested on weapons violations after he was arrested at a McDonald’s with a gun and a fake New Jersey ID that matched the ID used by the gunman days before the shooting at a New York City Checked into the hostel.

Mangione’s Instagram and Facebook accounts were deleted Monday evening and officers from the NYPD and FBI arrived in Altoona to interview Mangione.

When he was arrested, Mangione was carrying a three-page handwritten note expressing “ill will toward corporate America,” NYPD Chief Detective Joseph Kenny said Monday.

The gunman who fatally shot Thompson used ammunition marked “Deny,” “Defend” and “Dismiss,” officials said last week.

These terms are often associated with strategies used by insurance companies to avoid paying claims, and they had a close resemblance to the title of the 2010 book: Postpone, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Won’t Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It.

Update 6:17 p.m. EST 9/12/24: This story has been updated with additional information.

Update 7:23 p.m. EST 9/12/24: This story has been updated with additional information from a Google spokesperson.