The dark fandom behind CEO Luigi Mangione's murder suspect

They came wearing jackets, masks, shuffling their feet and laughing nervously while waiting for the winner to be announced.

Just days after UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was murdered on a New York City sidewalk, these young men lined up in Washington Square Park to compete in a competition similar to the man wanted for his murder.

Talia Jean, a journalist who was there, said there was little attendance, and those who attended took it as a joke.

But it highlighted the obsession with a murder suspect that has dominated social media since his December 4 killing, fueled by underlying anger directed at America's private health insurers.

“There's been a lot of combustion already, a lot of discontent, a lot of frustration there already, and this is kind of playing into it,” Jane said.

The case has grown since the suspect was named Luigi Mangione, a 26-year-old Ivy League-educated member of a prominent Baltimore family.

In TikTok videos, memes and group chats, the young man accused of shooting a father of two in the back on a New York City sidewalk has been hailed and lauded as a kind of folk hero.

This obsession was remarkably widespread, and was not limited to extreme corners of the Internet or any political affiliation, which alarmed many observers.

“We don't kill people in cold blood to resolve political differences or express a point of view,” said Josh Shapiro, the governor of Pennsylvania, where Mangione was arrested at a McDonald's restaurant.

“In civil society, we are all less safe when theorists engage in vigilante justice.”

Immediately after Thompson was shot, the Internet began celebrating his suspected killer. On TikTok, people posted videos of a walking tour of the “CEO killer” in New York City. On Spotify, playlists dedicated to the suspect began appearing.

As soon as Mr. Mangione was arrested, these fans rushed to his defense.

The beginning of his legal battles prompted anonymous donors to raise thousands of dollars for his defense through various online fundraisers.

Etsy was flooded with pro-Mangione clothing, while Amazon pulled similar products from its site.

The McDonald's worker who allegedly delivered it has become the target of online hate, while the fast food restaurant itself has been hit with a wave of nasty comments.

The Altoona, Pennsylvania, police department that arrested him even received death threats.

Much of the online reaction focused on his appearance, with the Internet dubbing him a “hot killer.”

Culture critic Blakely Thornton said Mangione's appearance, which he showed off in shirtless social media posts, was now part of the appeal.

He said Americans were effectively “programmed” to trust and sympathize with men who looked like Mr. Mangione.

“That's why they are the heroes of our films, books and stories.”

The general adoration of handsome men Accused of crimes are nothing new – from Ted Bundy to Jeremy Meeks, violent men have developed cult followings.

But Professor Tanya Horik, an expert in digital culture and true crime from Anglia Ruskin University, says social media has given those sentiments enormous visibility and helped them spread.

She told the BBC that the Internet had caused “the lines between celebrities and criminality to blur,” adding that when people see a good-looking person appearing on their online pages, the first thing they think of is lust, not moral criticism.

“The mood around Luigi Mangione is thirst,” she said.

Beyond his appearance, it is clear that a large part of Mangione's online appeal is his palpable anger against the private health care industry and corporate elites in general. American media reported that Mangione was arrested carrying a handwritten document saying, “These parasites are coming.”

The Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI), a non-profit counter-extremism research group based in New Jersey, said that after the shooting, the hashtag #EatTheRich went viral.

Since Mr. Mangione's arrest, variations of “#FreeLuigi” on X have been posted more than 50,000 times, potentially receiving tens of millions of impressions. The National Council of Resistance of Iran said that, by some measures, engagement with posts related to Thompson's killing across platforms such as X, Reddit and others has exceeded engagement with the assassination attempt against Donald Trump in July.

An analysis of a sample of comments conducted by market research firm OneCliq found that the vast majority of them — four-fifths — included criticism of the health care system.

Mr. Mangione's X account has gained more than 400,000 followers since the shooting.

The shooting also appears to have inspired others to take action against health care insurers, as “wanted” posters of other CEOs have appeared around New York City. A woman was arrested in Florida After telling the insurance agent over the phone “Delay, Deny, Deposit. You people are next,” referring to the words engraved on bullet casings found at the murder scene.

Alex Goldenberg, a senior adviser to the National Council of Resistance of Iran, described the online reaction as a “tipping point” and “a catalyst for the normalization of political violence that had previously been limited to extremists on the fringes.”

He compared the wave of comments to online activism in the wake of racist mass killings, which was designed to defend the killers and reinforce their beliefs — which is more widespread, and occurs across major social media networks.

“The dynamic we are observing is eerily similar to activity on platforms like 4chan, 8chan, Discord and in other dark corners of the internet, where mass shootings are often met with cheer,” he said.

Tim Weninger, a computer science professor at the University of Notre Dame and an expert in social media and artificial intelligence, said evidence suggests the ground wave was real — and not powered by bots or government influence operations.

“People are angry with the healthcare sector and are using social media to express their frustrations,” he said. “They are expressing those frustrations by supporting this suspect.”

Recent research by the Commonwealth Fund, a health policy institute, found that 45% of insured working-age adults had been charged for something they thought should have been free or covered by insurance, and 17% of respondents said the private insurer Their denied coverage for care recommended by their doctor.

There are signs that the shooting has sparked some contemplation on the part of health care companies.

“I think we're all taking a step back and trying to understand what's going on with patients and their experiences,” Carolyn Rowan, Pfizer's chief sustainability officer, said at a conference in New York on Wednesday, according to Reuters.

Some people who have been protesting against health insurance companies for years, before the online criticism of universal health coverage took off, understand some of the dark sentiment, even if they don't support it.

“It is a horrific act of violence, and I absolutely condemn it regardless of the motive,” Jane Coffey, who is struggling to secure universal health coverage to cover her medical bills, said of Mr. Thompson's killing. “But I wasn't shocked by the reaction.”

Coffey, 53, of Manchester, New Hampshire, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2013 and later developed complex regional pain syndrome, a neurological condition that can be debilitating. When her doctor suggested she try ketamine therapy, her Universal Health Coverage insurance wouldn't cover the procedure, she said. She has since been involved in a protest campaign organized by the activist group Popular Action.

Ms. Coffey's illness forced her to stop working as an emergency medical technician. She said she started a crowdfunding campaign and had to sell most of her possessions to pay for the treatment herself.

“I can regain some normalcy,” she said. “I can sit and draw, or enjoy a meal with my family” because of the treatment. “I can have a life worth living.”

UnitedHealth Group told the BBC it could not comment on individual cases for privacy reasons.

Meanwhile, most online discussions ignored the victim, Brian Thompson, who was 50 years old.

“It's very grim that (Thompson's death) wasn't covered as much, because in the end one person died, and another person was murdered,” Blakely Thornton said.

“The collective outrage at (the health care industry) actually outweighs what remains a tragedy.”

In his last LinkedIn post, Mr. Thompson spoke about efforts to make health care more affordable — and was criticized in the comments. CBS News, the BBC's US partner, obtained a letter sent by UnitedHealth CEO Andrew Witty to employees this week, commemorating Thompson and describing his slain colleague as “one of the good guys.”

“He was definitely one of the smartest guys. I think he was one of the best. I will miss him. I am so proud to call him my friend,” he wrote.

In the email, the company shared messages from customers, including one who wrote about cancer recovery, saying their treatment was paid for by insurance company benefits.

“I am grateful to UHC and everyone working within a broken system to help as many people as possible,” they wrote, according to the company.

Another message read: “It's so sad that this world is so hateful. I've always had great experiences with universal health coverage.”

“My heart goes out to the family and I can't imagine what they are going to have to struggle with this (murder). It is horrific to me that this has been the catalyst for this discussion,” said Ms Coffey, a Holistic Care policyholder and patient. “.

“I would rather sit and talk to him.”

With additional reporting from Grace Dean