In America, people have strong opinions about health insurance companies, and when it came out that the alleged shooter had written “deny,” “depose,” “defend” on some ammo, they rallied ‘round. When it turned out Mangione had been spotted at a fast-food restaurant in Altoona, Pennsylvania, someone on Bluesky called it SnitchDonald’s; others briefly review-bombed the location. (Google later pulled many negative reviews.)
Mangione appeared in a Pennsylvania court on Monday night to be arraigned on two felony charges, one related to a firearm and another to a false ID. He also faces three related misdemeanor charges. He didn’t enter a plea. He was later charged with murder in Manhattan. As soon as his name was released Monday, though, the internet’s investigation, and judgment, of him entered a whole new phase.
People pored over old X accounts, and GitHub pages that appeared to belong to him. A thorough investigation of what seems to be his Goodreads account showed that he read Michael Pollan and Aldous Huxley. He had an Ivy League education and might’ve been a fan of Joe Rogan and/or Tucker Carlson. What some folks online had imagined as a left-leaning anti-capitalist revolutionary turned out to be someone with beliefs as complicated and perhaps conflicting as just about anyone else online. Memes, it seemed, had once again reduced someone to whom the internet wanted him to be, a reflection of their own frustrations with health care in the US or the power of massive corporations.
Someone who would kill a health care CEO might share those frustrations, but very little else, with the people obsessing over him online.
This, perhaps, makes Mangione’s Milkshake Duck moment not quite a Milkshake Duck moment at all. Yes, people are reevaluating how they perceived Thompson’s suspected killer and his motivations, but they’re not totally abandoning him entirely. When police released his mugshot late Monday, giving a fuller picture of the good-looking person from the photo authorities had released days prior, online thirst was everywhere. Fanfiction writers remain at work. Etsy is full of merch.
As Ryan Broderick put it in his Garbage Day newsletter on Monday, “it’s possible that this is the most aligned America—well, aside from the folks in its highest tax brackets—has been about a news story since the invention of the internet.”
Want further proof? Look no further than the comments on Daily Wire host Ben Shapiro’s YouTube channel. On a video titled “The EVIL Revolutionary Left Cheers Murder!” the responses were swift and unequivocal: “FACT: Both left AND right are cheering! We don’t care about your feelings”; “I’m not buying this ‘left vs right’ shit 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 bro.” Not exactly the kind of banter typically found in the comments section of a manosphere video.
Public opinion on Mangione and Thompson’s fate will likely continue to shift in for weeks. So much more information will come to the fore. Like any other main character, Mangione’s entire life will be analyzed, but what gets said about him may seem small compared to what the response to his actions says about everyone else.