When considering the Thompson assassination video, I see 5 categories of people who can calmly commit an assassination in that manner and successfully exfiltrate the area. I base this statement on a number of factors:
-Identifies bystander, determines them not to be a threat and moves on to target.
-Solid isosceles shooting stance despite being in a situation that would be extremely high stress for the average person.
-Manages weapon malfunctions calmly and continues to put rounds on target while continuing to reduce distance. Doesn't panic and run after putting a round or two on the target.
-Doesn't panic during exfiltration, leaves in a casual manner. Not only manages to escape the city but also manages to get to another state.
I see a very limited number of potential profiles for this type of person:
An actual professional hitman with a wealth of experience. These people are exceedingly rare and for numerous reasons, incredibly unlikely that Mangione is an experienced assassin.
Ex-military with substantial combat experience who holds a serious grudge. No history of military experience for Mangione. Not impossible that he could be sheep dipped, but unlikely here given his age and college resume.
The regular person who has lost everything due to the malfeasance of Optum. They have lost their family to Optum and see no reason to carry on beyond vengeance. They're dead inside and their only goal is their target. These people are very rare but there are documented cases. It would explain the calm manner in which Mangione executed Thompson. The question would then be what was his motive?
The exceedingly rare true psychopath who also is singularly committed to his cause. While there's a surprisingly large number of people in the population with some degree of psychopathy, true psychopaths are rare. Perhaps more importantly, they tend to be exceptional mimics of "normal people" and the vast majority want to maintain their cover as a "normal" person. In addition, Mangione would have to have a serious grudge against either Thompson or Optum.
The brainwashed IC asset. Either recruited or handed over by a relative who is in the IC already. A combination of mental programming/conditioning and highly-specific firearms/engagement/exfiltration training.
From my understanding, Mangione was missing for closer to 6 months, not 3 months. Profile #5 seems most plausible to me though we do not know the motive. Yes, I know there's a million Nancy Pelosi/Palo Alto posts out there but the connections aren't strong enough yet for me to take them seriously.
Otherwise I don't think we can confidently rule out item #4 at this point. I will be curious to see how long Mangione survives in captivity and if he's allowed to give any messages to the media. Also curious to see who winds up defending him.
When considering the Thompson assassination video, I see 5 categories of people who can calmly commit an assassination in that manner and successfully exfiltrate the area. I base this statement on a number of factors:
-Identifies bystander, determines them not to be a threat and moves on to target.
-Solid isosceles shooting stance despite being in a situation that would be extremely high stress for the average person.
-Manages weapon malfunctions calmly and continues to put rounds on target while continuing to reduce distance. Doesn't panic and run after putting a round or two on the target.
-Doesn't panic during exfiltration, leaves in a casual manner. Not only manages to escape the city but also manages to get to another state.
I see a very limited number of potential profiles for this type of person:
An actual professional hitman with a wealth of experience. These people are exceedingly rare and for numerous reasons, incredibly unlikely that Mangione is an experienced assassin.
Ex-military with substantial combat experience who holds a serious grudge. No history of military experience for Mangione. Not impossible that he could be sheep dipped, but unlikely here given his age and college resume.
The regular person who has lost everything due to the malfeasance of Optum. They have lost their family to Optum and see no reason to carry on beyond vengeance. They're dead inside and their only goal is their target. These people are very rare but there are documented cases. It would explain the calm manner in which Mangione executed Thompson. The question would then be what was his motive?
The exceedingly rare true psychopath who also is singularly committed to his cause. While there's a surprisingly large number of people in the population with some degree of psychopathy, true psychopaths are rare. Perhaps more importantly, they tend to be exceptional mimics of "normal people" and the vast majority want to maintain their cover as a "normal" person. In addition, Mangione would have to have a serious grudge against either Thompson or Optum.
The brainwashed IC asset. Either recruited or handed over by a relative who is in the IC already. A combination of mental programming/conditioning and highly-specific firearms/engagement/exfiltration training.
From my understanding, Mangione was missing for closer to 6 months, not 3 months. Profile #5 seems most plausible to me though we do not know the motive. Yes, I know there's a million Nancy Pelosi/Palo Alto posts out there but the connections aren't strong enough yet for me to take them seriously.
Otherwise I don't think we can confidently rule out item #4 at this point. I will be curious to see how long Mangione survives in captivity and if he's allowed to give any messages to the media. Also curious to see who winds up defending him.