FACT CHECK: No, Authorities Did Not Find A Secret Tunnel In The UnitedHealthcare CEO’s House
Tunnel found in CEO Brian Thompson’s home..
Who hasn’t got a tunnel running under their home these days.. pic.twitter.com/M233lKlBsC
— 🇺🇸 🇷🇺 🏴☠️👁️ (@SharronMcKenna5) December 19, 2024
Verdict: False
The images are not from his home. There is also no proof that he legitimately had a tunnel in his house.
Fact Check:
UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot dead from behind in Manhattan while on his way to an investor conference on Dec. 4, according to ABC News. Police arrested 26-year-old Luigi Mangione after a days-long manhunt at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, where he was found to have writings criticizing the health care industry, the outlet reported. Mangione has plead not guilty to murder charges.
A post on X claims that the late Thompson’s house in Maple Grove, Minnesota, had a secret tunnel underneath it. The post shows a video, narrated by what sounds to be an AI voice, and claims that the wooden tunnel shown provides a “shocking turn” in the form of tools and pathways used for “clandestine transport.” It goes on to claim that “cryptic handwritten codes” match documents found in Mangione’s home.
All of this is false, however. The video provides no sources to back up any of it’s claims, and Check Your Fact was unable to verify any of the accusations made. Also, Luigi Mangione was never found to have “cryptic handwritten codes,” except for the number 286 that some internet users claim to be a clue left by the alleged killer.
At :34 seconds into the false video, black and white text is shown that purports to be from Thompson’s home. This text is not problematic, however. It is simply from a religious poem “Jubilate Agno” by Christopher Smart. The images seen right after are from the notebook of Léonard Joseph Prunelle de Lière’s Élus Coëns, which Wikimedia Commons describes as “the indication of seals of spirits, the good angels and evil demons.”
There is no indication that any of these symbols were in Brian Thompson’s home, or that they had any meaning to him whatsoever. This story was first reported by Lead Stories.