David Kaczynski, brother of the infamous "Unabomber," expressed concern that his brother's violent legacy might have influenced Luigi Mangione, the suspect in the recent shooting of a UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, The Hill reported.
The brother of "Unabomber" Ted Kaczynski, who terrorized the nation with a series of deadly bombings, said he hopes his brother's actions did not serve as a model for Mangione.
"I think we always have to remember that human motivation is extremely complicated," David Kaczynski said in a phone interview with NBC News. "Many factors go into a person's motivation to act like this, and I hope my brother wasn't a key model for him."
Mangione, a high-achieving University of Pennsylvania graduate and former high school valedictorian was arrested Monday at a McDonald's in Pennsylvania after an employee tipped off law enforcement.
Authorities had been searching for him following last week's shooting of Thompson in New York City.
Ted Kaczynski, who died in federal custody last year at 81, carried out a notorious 17-year bombing spree targeting universities, airline executives, and other entities he blamed for societal ills. Known as the "Unabomber," he mailed and hand-delivered bombs that killed three people and injured more than 20. His manifesto criticized the impacts of technological advancements on humanity.
David Kaczynski, who played a pivotal role in identifying his brother to the FBI in 1996, said the possibility of Ted influencing others to commit violence weighs heavily on him.
"It causes me a great deal of personal pain" to think that my brother's actions could have "in any way contributed to influencing a man like this to kill an innocent human being," he said.
After Mangione's arrest, an online wave of sympathy emerged, with some users expressing frustration toward the health insurance industry and framing Mangione as a symbol of resistance. David Kaczynski, however, urged caution against romanticizing violent figures like his brother.
"To the extent that [Ted] may have attributed at all to sort of normalizing or recasting violent acts as beneficial to humanity is a terrible mistake," he said. His actions were like "a virus."
The UnitedHealthcare CEO's murder has sparked both shock and speculation about Mangione's motives. Authorities have not disclosed details linking Mangione's actions to Ted Kaczynski's ideology, but parallels in their educational backgrounds and intellectual achievements have drawn public interest.