Luigi Mangione, the suspect in last week’s fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, has gained hundreds of thousands of social media followers after his arrest.
Mangione’s social media following has exploded after being identified as a suspect in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Police announced on Monday that Mangione, 26, was arrested in connection with the fatal shooting of Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel.
Prosecutors in New York charged Mangione with murder after law enforcement in Altoona, Pennsylvania, arrested Mangione on weapons charges after he was recognized by an employee at a McDonald’s on Monday morning.
Police discovered he was carrying a firearm, a fake New Jersey ID matching the one the suspect used to check into a New York hostel, and identification bearing his real name. Altoona is located about 275 miles from New York City.
Mangione saw a dramatic surge to nearly 300,000 followers on X (formerly Twitter) after his identity was revealed following his arrest.
Critics of the U.S. healthcare system have praised the suspect on social media as an anti-establishment figure.
The hashtag #FreeLuigi was trending on social media platforms such as X, Instagram, TikTok, and Reddit.
His Instagram account, @luigi.from.fiji, gained over 21,500 followers since his arrest, before it was taken down.
The McDonald’s outlet where he was caught was flooded with negative reviews following the arrest.
On Monday, Google removed a series of derogatory one-star reviews targeting the restaurant, many of which included puns about “rats” in the kitchen, following the cashier’s role in “ratting out” Mangione.
These reviews were an example of “review bombing,” where numerous accounts post negative feedback to damage a business’s reputation, often in response to a highly publicized event.
One review, since deleted, said: “This location has rats in the kitchen that will make you sick and your insurance isn’t going to cover it.”
Another wrote: “Do not stop here if you are an American Hero. They will sell you out.”
In a statement reported by Reuters, a Google spokesperson said, “These reviews violate our policies and have been removed.”
Meanwhile, Nino Mangione, the suspect’s cousin and a Republican Maryland state lawmaker, shared a statement on the arrest from the Mangione family with Newsweek via email on Monday night, adding that he had “no further comment beyond this statement at this time.”
“Unfortunately, we cannot comment on news reports regarding Luigi Mangione,” the family’s statement reads. “We only know what we have read in the media. Our family is shocked and devastated by Luigi’s arrest. We offer our prayers to the family of Brian Thompson and we ask people to pray for all involved. We are devastated by this news.”
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