The Internet’s obsession with Luigi Mangione signals a major change

In the United States, people have strong opinions about health insurance companies, and when it was learned that the alleged shooter had written “deny”, “depose”, “defend” in some ammunition casings, came together. When it turned out that Mangione had been seen at a fast food restaurant in Altoona, Pennsylvania, someone at Bluesky He called it SnitchDonald’s; others briefly bombed by review the location. (Google later thrown many negative reviews.)

Mangione appeared in a Pennsylvania court Monday night to be arraigned on two felonies, one involving a firearm and another involving a false ID. He also faces three related misdemeanor charges. He did not plead guilty. He was later charged with murder in Manhattan. However, as soon as his name was released on Monday, the Internet’s investigation and judgment of him entered a whole new phase.

People were poring over old X accounts and GitHub pages that appeared to belong to him. A thorough investigation of what appears to be his Goodreads account showed that he read Michael Pollan and Aldous Huxley. He had an Ivy League education and could have been a fan of Joe Rogan and/or Tucker Carlson. What some people online had imagined as a left-wing anti-capitalist revolutionary turned out to be someone with beliefs as complicated and perhaps as conflicting as anyone else online. Memes, it seemed, had once again reduced someone to what the Internet wanted them to be, a reflection of their own frustrations with healthcare in the US or the power of massive corporations.

Someone who would kill a healthcare CEO might share those frustrations, but very little else, with people who are obsessed with him online.

This, perhaps, makes Mangione Whipped duck moment isn’t exactly a Milkshake Duck moment at all. Yes, people are reevaluating how they perceived Thompson’s alleged killer and his motivations, but they are not abandoning him completely. When police released his mugshot Monday night, giving a more complete picture of the attractive person in the photo authorities had posted days earlier online. thirst It was everywhere. Fanfiction writers are still working. Etsy is full of products.

As Ryan Broderick said your Garbage Day newsletter on Monday, “This may be the most aligned America (well, aside from the people with its highest tax brackets) has been in the news since the invention of the Internet.”

Do you want more proof? Look no further than the comments on Daily Wire host Ben Shapiro’s YouTube channel. In a video titled “The EVIL revolutionary left applauds the murder!” The responses were quick and unequivocal: “FACT: Both the left and the right are applauding! “We don’t care about your feelings”; “I don’t believe this ‘left versus right’ bullshit anymore, Ben, I want health care for my family”; “Just because ‘the left’ likes something doesn’t mean you have to instinctively hate it. Wake up and read the room, brother.” Not exactly the kind of jokes you’d normally find in the comments section of a manosphere video.

Public opinion on the fate of Mangione and Thompson will likely continue to shift for weeks. Much more information will come to light. Like any other main character, Mangione’s entire life will be analyzed, but what is said about him may seem small compared to what the response to his actions says about others.