In the US, people have strong opinions about health insurance companies, and when it turns out that the shooter wrote “deny,” “exclude,” “protect” in certain letter boxes, they flock. When it emerged that Mangione had been spotted at a fast food restaurant in Altoona, Pennsylvania, someone at Bluesky called it SnitchDonald’s; others have briefly reviewed the location. (Google later issued many negative reviews.)
Mangione appeared in a Pennsylvania court Monday night to face two counts of first-degree murder and one count of false identity theft. He also faces three counts of disorderly conduct. He did not apply. He was later charged with murder in Manhattan. As soon as his name was released on Monday, however, the online investigation, and judgment, of him entered a new phase.
People used old X accounts and GitHub pages that appeared to be his. A closer look at what appears to be his Goodreads account revealed that he read Michael Pollan and Aldous Huxley. He had an Ivy League education and may have been a fan of Joe Rogan and/or Tucker Carlson. What some people on the internet thought was a left-wing anti-capitalist revolutionary turned out to be someone with as complex and possibly conflicting beliefs as anyone else on the internet. Memes, it seems, have once again reduced the person the Internet wants them to be, an expression of their frustration with US health care or the power of big corporations.
Someone who would kill a healthcare CEO might share that frustration, but very little, with the people who think highly of him on the Internet.
This, perhaps, makes Mangione’s Milkshake Duck moment not a Milkshake Duck moment at all. Yes, people are reevaluating their view of Thompson’s killer and his motives, but they are not rejecting him completely. When police released his mug shot late Monday, providing a full-length image of the handsome man from the photo managers had released days earlier, the internet was in a frenzy. Fiction writers are still working. Etsy is full of merchandise.
As Ryan Broderick put it in his Garbage Day column on Monday, “This may be the most connected America—well, except for people in its highest tax brackets—that’s been in the news since the Internet.”
Want more evidence? Look no further than the comments on Daily Wire host Ben Shapiro’s YouTube channel. In a video titled “The EVIL Revolutionary Left Cheers Murder!” the answers were quick and unequivocal: “TRUTH: Both left and right are fun! We don’t care about your feelings”; “I’m not buying this ‘left vs right’ rubbish anymore Ben, I want health care for my family”; Just because the ‘left’ likes something doesn’t mean you have to inherently hate it. Get up and study in the room, brother.” It’s not exactly the kind of banter usually found in the video comment section of the manosphere.
Public opinion about the fate of Mangione and Thompson will likely continue to change for weeks. Much more information will emerge. Like any other main character, Mangione’s entire life will be analyzed, but what is said about him may seem small compared to what his actions say about other people.
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