UnitedHealthcare CEO murder suspect Luigi Mangione's looks captivate TikTok users after perp walk
Social media users, primarily young women, are fawning over Luigi Mangione, the suspect accused of murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Manhattan on Dec. 4 in what authorities described as a premeditated attack.
"Luigi Mangione allegedly conducted the carefully premeditated and targeted execution of Brian Thompson to incite national debates," James Dennehy, assistant director in charge of the FBI's New York field office, said Thursday in a statement after Mangione's extradition to New York. "This alleged plot demonstrates a cavalier attitude towards humanity — deeming murder an appropriate recourse to satiate personal grievances."
Mangione is charged with first-degree murder in furtherance of an act of terrorism, stalking and a slew of other state and federal charges in both New York and Pennsylvania, for allegedly gunning down Thompson, a married father of two from Minnesota.
Mangione allegedly shot Thompson outside the Manhattan hotel where UnitedHealthcare's annual shareholder conference was being held, in an act prosecutors believe was meant to send a message to the health care insurance industry based on a manifesto found on the suspect when he was arrested days later in Pennsylvania.
Since the attack and Mangione's arrest, social media has erupted with positive posts about the murder suspect.
A TikTok video of an artist sketching Mangione's face over Alexander Hamilton's face on a $10 bill to the sound of news anchors talking about the words "deny," "defend" and "depose" — the same words found on shell casings at the crime scene — has more than a million views and 234,000 likes.
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"'Give me liberty or give me death' was the [original] ‘deny defend depose,'" one commenter wrote.
A video montage of clips from Mangione's Thursday extradition from Pennsylvania to New York, surrounded by NYPD officers escorting him off a plane, has gone viral with more than 2 million views.
"[T]hey acting like he's el chapo or something," one user commented on the video, with another comparing the clip to "Gotham City."
Other video montages of Mangione's perp walk, with hundreds of thousands of views, play along to songs by Taylor Swift, Lana Del Rey and Pink Floyd.
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"Hes being transferred from jail looking hotter… fresh shave, a fade, and fresh curls omg," one user captioned a video of Mangione being escorted to New York.
"He actually came out looking better," another user commented.
"I really hope, when he gets out of this, his friends didn't lose too much of the sweet, caring Luigi they had before this," one user wrote in response to a video of Mangione. "I hope he gets the support he needs to get over how traumatic this has been."
Several experts in psychology and social media explained the obsession with Mangione on TikTok and other social media platforms to Fox News Digital.
Rachel Goldberg, LMFT, PMH-C of Rachel Goldberg Therapy in Los Angeles, pointed to "three main reasons" behind the Mangione obsession.
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"First, he comes across as a relatively ‘normal’ guy — someone you might have interacted with in your life without thinking twice, or even had pleasant interactions with," Goldberg said. "Second, there’s still a lot of mystery surrounding the situation. We don’t fully understand what prompted him to act — whether it was tied to mental illness, frustration over his back issues, or that combined with other factors. Finally, this case has given people a platform to express their dissatisfaction with the health insurance system."
"Many people carry that frustration silently, but this situation has created a sense of camaraderie, allowing them to openly vent about it," she continued.
Dr. Holly Schiff, a licensed clinical psychologist, told Fox News Digital that "[s]omeone who becomes famous for a scandalous or controversial reason is alluring."
"Social media thrives on engagement and a sensational story like this generates likes, comments and shares. There is a sense of excitement or thrill from following and being a ‘part’ of a dramatic or maybe controversial and taboo subject," Schiff explained.
Social media can also "create a sense of groupthink where people will start to adopt the same opinions or behaviors of others just to fit in."
"If there is a certain viewpoint, in this case, admiration for Luigi Mangione, becomes widespread, it starts to pick up steam and become a larger movement," Schiff said. "Social media makes this spread like wildfire and happen much more quickly. There is no critical thinking or awareness of the implications as this happens. Groupthink happens when a group of people make an irrational or dysfunctional decision due to a desire for harmony or conformity, and this can lead to so-called bad decisions."
If Mangione "were perceived as less attractive, the public's reaction to his crime might be harsher," she continued.
"Society tends to judge less attractive individuals more negatively, especially when it comes to criminal investigations," Schiff said. "There is a cognitive bias called the halo effect, where our impression of a person is based on a single trait. In Luigi's case, people are making assumptions about his overall character based solely on his physical appearance and looks. If he is considered conventionally attractive, it makes it easier for some people to gloss over their actions, or in the extreme version we are seeing here, romanticize his actions."
There is also a general fascination among the public with the "bad boy" or "outlaw" type, as well as true crime as a literary and film genre, "which has desensitized us to murder cases and criminal investigations and in some cases even normalizes true crime."
London-based music industry expert and Forbes 30 under 30 lister Nikki Camilleri noted that the public's glorification of a murder suspect runs "deeper than pretty privilege," the phenomenon of conventionally attractive people receiving preferential treatment.
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"Counter-culture and an anti-establishment sentiment has resurged more prominently in the recent past and what Luigi represents is this trend," Camilleri said, adding that Mangione is "a young person who, in the eyes of many, has gone against 'the man' and acted on a resentment many feel towards major health care companies and similar large establishments."
"It's a modern-day anti-establishment protest if you will — happening on social media and with Luigi as the face of it," she explained. Similar "crazes" are seen with boy bands, artists and influencers, "which all stem from the psychological associations people make with the stars," Camilleri said.
Michael Petegorsky, chief strategy officer at psychedelic medicine provider Mindbloom, said he has "seen firsthand how mental health struggles often manifest in unexpected ways, including collective behaviors like those we’re seeing around Luigi Mangione."
Petegorsky pointed to frustrations with the health care insurance industry as part of the public's infatuation with the murder suspect.
"The obsession with Mangione highlights the extent of the broken mental health care system in the U.S., where millions are suffering without access to adequate care," Petegorsky said. "When basic mental health needs go unmet, people may gravitate toward sensationalized stories or irrational groupthink as an outlet for their frustration, curiosity, or even an unconscious attempt to process deeper societal issues."
While officials have not commented on an official motive, the public has speculated that the suspect had strong grievances with the health care insurance industry.
The 26-year-old Mangione is originally from Maryland and has recently lived in California and Hawaii. He graduated valedictorian from the Gilman School, a private, all-boys high school in Baltimore, in 2016. Mangione went on to receive his bachelor's and master's degrees in computer science from the University of Pennsylvania in 2020.