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Reports indicate UnitedHealthcare CEO murder suspect Luigi Mangione suffered “debilitating pain” and had back surgery last year.

The New York Times reported the back surgery and People magazine reported that one of Mangione’s acquaintances, R.J. Martin, met Mangione in 2022 and observed his pain was so intense he had to “switch out his mattress” to try to get relief.

Martin owned a co-living space where Mangione stayed January to June 2022.  The Honolulu Civil Beat noted Martin indicated Mangione “suffered chronic back pain from an apparent pinched nerve.”

The Associated Press quoted Martin’s spokesman, Josiah Ryan, saying, “[Mangione] went surfing with R.J. once but it didn’t work out because of his back.”

CNN quoted Martin saying, “[Mangione] never once talked about guns, never once talked about violence.”

File/Valedictorian Luigi Mangione gives a farewell speech to the Class of 2016 during commencement at Gilman School. (Nicole Munchel/The Baltimore Sun/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

Martin added, “He was absolutely a not violent person, as far as I could tell.”

Mangione was taken into custody in an Altoona, Pennsylvania, McDonald’s Monday, after being recognized from the photos that had been released by law enforcement.

Breitbart News noted police found a handwritten note in his possession which allegedly said, “These parasites had it coming.”

A source within law enforcement told the AP the handwritten note in Mangione’s possession also said, “To the Feds, I’ll keep this short, because I do respect what you do for our country. To save you a lengthy investigation, I state plainly that I wasn’t working with anyone.”

ABC News observed that officers also discovered Mangione “had a ghost gun capable of firing a 9mm round and a suppressor.”  And NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch noted that the gun and suppressor were “consistent with the weapon used in the [Brian Thompson] murder.”

Mangione is charged with murder in the December 4, 2024, shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio, a member of Gun Owners of America, a Pulsar Night Vision pro-staffer, and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010 and has a Ph.D. in Military History. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly: awrhawkins@breitbart.com.