After police in Altoona, Pennsylvania, detained a “person of interest” in connection to the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and identified him as Luigi Mangione, it wasn’t long before sleuths started looking up what appear to be the 26-year-old’s many social-media accounts. Around 1:30 p.m. today, the Instagram account of a Luigi Mangione — who looks like the man captured in security-camera footage of the suspected gunman — had around 1,379 followers, and his tagged photos, like most users’, were filled with moments captured by friends and family: his smiling face peeking out the side of a hammock, dressed up to attend a wedding, and posing in front of a herd of cows. Just three hours later, as more and more people sifted through his digital footprint, his follower count had skyrocketed to over 74,000, and his tagged photos were no longer filled with memorabilia and nostalgia but instead riddled with clout chasers trying to meet the moment.
In an attempt to get their content more views, attention-thirsty users have started tagging Mangione in their Reels and photo dumps so that they show up in his tagged posts. Someone who goes by @SamGray4 tagged Mangione in a video montage of him and a friend — filled with clips of flashing lights at a nightclub, stills of shiny watches on wrists, and plenty of fit checks in several reflective surfaces — captioned “Europe 2024.” Another user whose Instagram profile has a very distinct “wannabe influencer” vibe to it tagged Mangione in several selfies, one of her at the beach and another in the back of a car. Another photo of her and a friend holding pumpkins (very wholesome) also contains Mangione’s tag. Even a user who took part in a boudoir shoot, one featuring a strappy thong one-piece with full cheeks out, couldn’t resist the temptation of getting another view or two from Mangione’s tagged photos.
Now that Mangione has been charged with murder and other felonies, it’s clear that interest in him and those around him will exponentially increase from here on out. And when you’re a micro-influencer, that latter category seems to be a gold mine. After all, when your job is to be online, any view is a good view, even if it’s in connection with a hot alleged assassin.
This post has been updated to reflect the criminal charges against Mangione.