The online support for Luigi Mangione, the suspect arrested in the killing of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a hotel in New York, has created a flutter. Thompson was shot on the sidewalk early Wednesday morning, with the suspect fleeing the scene on a bike before taking a taxi to a bus depot offering services to nearby states.
On Monday morning, a tip from a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 375 kilometres away from the location where the murder took place, led authorities to arrest 26-year-old Luigi Mangione. Police say Mangione was carrying a gun believed to be the weapon used to kill Thompson.
In a statement, Thompson’s family said he was "an incredibly loving father" to two sons and "will be greatly missed."
"We are shattered to hear about the senseless killing of our beloved Brian," the statement said. "Brian was an incredibly loving, generous, talented man who truly lived life to the fullest and touched so many lives."
However, many on social media sympathised not with Thompson's family but the killer instead. Merchandise featuring references to Mangione quickly emerged online -- from T-shirts and hoodies to coffee mugs and shot glasses. Amazon has pulled down several such pieces of merchandise.
Killer who turned into an online folk hero
Before his arrest, Mangione was virtually unknown, with police only releasing a grainy security camera photo showing half of the suspect's face. However, once he became the focus of the investigation, Mangione quickly transformed into an online folk hero.
As reported by Wired, on TikTok, users shared ballads in tribute to the shooter, while on Bluesky, people speculated about his ebike getaway and the backpack full of Monopoly money, reportedly linked to him, found in New York’s famous Central Park. A lookalike contest was even held in New York, while Spotify saw the creation of dedicated playlists. Fan fiction began appearing on Archive of Our Own as the suspect's story gained unexpected online attention.
Mangione has been portrayed online as a symbol of vengeance against a failing healthcare system. Wired says that some even dubbed him "The Adjuster."
As the case gained traction, Mangione's image became the screen onto which the world's opinions and preconceptions were projected, elevating him to what is described as to a "main character" status.
Online, fans often form communities around almost anything, and following the shooting, a fandom emerged around Thompson's suspected killer like rarely before. Mangione became a hero for anyone who had struggled with a hospital bill.
According to a report from the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) at Rutgers University, many of the most engaged posts on X mentioning Thompson or United Healthcare after the shooting expressed either explicit or implicit support for the killing or criticized the victim. Rhetoric once confined to niche online subcultures like 4chan or 8chan spread to mainstream platforms. The report noted, "This phenomenon was once largely confined to niche online subcultures; we are now witnessing similar dynamics emerging on mainstream platforms."
According to The New York Times, many social media users hailed the death of Thompson, especially those sharing personal stories of denied insurance claims. On TikTok, women have posted videos jokingly offering to hide him from authorities. One widely viewed video, captioned "This man deserves sanctuary," has garnered millions of views.
The troubling mainstreaming of support for Mangione
Adding to the online response are comedic skits of "witnesses" telling police they're blind in one eye and nearly blind in the other, humorously insisting they saw nothing at the scene.
Some of the most prominent internet sleuths have remained disengaged from the investigation.
NBC reported that Savannah Sparks, who has 1.3 million followers on TikTok and is known for tracking down and revealing the identities of people involved in racist or criminal acts in viral videos, had expressed indifference about identifying the shooter.
"We’re pretty apathetic towards that," Sparks said. Though Sparks, 34, has previously been enlisted by law enforcement to train officers on how to locate suspects online, according to emails seen by NBC News, she made it clear that she wasn't interested in helping police in this case.
Mass shooters and other violent offenders often become the subjects of memes, but what's unsettling in this case is how widespread the phenomenon has become, NCRI senior adviser Alex Goldenberg told The New York Times, "What's disturbing about this is that it's mainstream." Many online reactions to Thompson's death framed it as a spark for a broader "class conflict".
In the US, health insurance companies often evoke strong opinions, and when reports emerged that the alleged shooter had etched the words "deny", "defend", and "depose" on ammo casings, public reactions intensified. These phrases referenced Delay, Defend, Deny: Why Insurance Companies Don’t Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It, a book by legal expert Jay Feinman discussing alleged unethical practices in the insurance industry, such as delaying or denying valid claims.
After Mangione was spotted at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania, the restaurant became a target of online backlash. On Bluesky, users dubbed it "SnitchDonald's", and the location briefly faced a flood of negative reviews on Google. Many comments referenced the healthcare industry, along with claims of "rats" in the kitchen and “narc” employees, slang for police informants.
“This location has rats in the kitchen that will make you sick, and your insurance isn’t going to cover it,” one review read. “More like NarcDonald’s … I hope obesity and heart disease are in-network in PA. Deny, defend, depose, diarrhea @ McDonald’s …” another post quipped, as reported by CBS News.
Google later removed the reviews for violating its terms of use and implemented additional safeguards to maintain the platform’s integrity, a company spokesperson confirmed.
A killer with complex and potentially conflicting beliefs
According to Wired, people delved into old X accounts and GitHub pages believed to belong to the suspect. A deep dive into what appeared to be his Goodreads account revealed that he had read authors like Michael Pollan and Aldous Huxley. He was Ivy League-educated and might have been a fan of Joe Rogan and Tucker Carlson, who are conservative commentators.
What many had initially imagined as a left-leaning, anti-capitalist revolutionary turned out to be someone with complex and potentially conflicting beliefs, much like many others online. Memes, as Wired noted, had once again oversimplified a person, reducing him to a figure that mirrored the internet's collective frustrations — whether with the US healthcare system or the immense power of corporations.
According to Wired, someone who would resort to killing a healthcare CEO might share frustrations about the system but likely has little else in common with the people obsessing over him online. The internet's fascination with the suspect reflects its tendency to project broader societal grievances onto an individual, regardless of the complexities or contradictions in their beliefs, the website noted.
Wired further reported that public reactions to the incident reveal a deeper reflection of societal divides and frustrations.
On Daily Wire host Ben Shapiro's YouTube channel, a video titled "The EVIL Revolutionary Left Cheers Murder!" sparked comments that defied typical partisan narratives. Responses included statements like, "FACT: Both left AND right are cheering! We don't care about your feelings", and, "I'm not buying this 'left vs right' shit anymore Ben, I want health care for my family."
Another commenter added, "Just because 'the left' likes something doesn't mean you have to instinctively hate it. Wake up and read the room bro."
Naturally, these remarks stood out in a space typically associated with rigid ideological banter.
