On Monday, police arrested Luigi Mangione, a 26-year-old app developer, in connection with the death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Online reaction to his apprehension reveals a new form of fandom.
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.