How the internet became obsessed with ‘hot assassin’ Luigi Mangione

A fawning fandom for Luigi Mangione has emerged, with social media users obsessing over the accused murderer’s good looks, calling for his freedom - and selling ‘Luigi’ merchandise.

Images of Luigi Mangione have gone viral on the internet. Picture: Supplied.

Social media users obsessing over Luigi Mangione are calling for his freedom after he was charged with shooting dead a health insurance chief executive “in cold blood”.

A fawning fandom for the clean-cut American, 26, emerged last week when the New York Police Department released a picture of the suspect smiling and wearing a hooded jacket as he evaded capture. “He’s hot as shit, you must acquit” demanded one woman online, while others wrote: “Free Luigi!”

Support for Mangione, who is accused of murdering Brian Thompson, the boss of UnitedHealthcare, ranges from agreeing with his alleged motive to “thirsting” — or “drooling” in yesterday’s slang — over his appearance.

Can't wait to see Dave Franco play Luigi Mangione in whatever TV series Ryan Murphy is currently creating pic.twitter.com/ic9GNAciNS

— Meh (@Spilling_The_T) December 9, 2024

The sentiment reached fever pitch on Monday after officers finally apprehended their target and published his name after a six-day manhunt. Memes, merchandise and calls to release Mangione have since flooded X, Instagram and TikTok as tens of thousands of users praise his looks and echo his criticism of the healthcare industry in the United States.

Knitted beanie hats bearing the logo of the Nintendo character Luigi are reportedly selling fast on Amazon, while Etsy, the shopping site, began offering bags featuring Mangione’s face alongside the words: “Mama I’m in love with a criminal”.

Officers found him about 500km away from the crime scene eating at a McDonald’s restaurant. He allegedly had in his possession a gun, a silencer and a three-page manifesto, which reportedly branded healthcare bosses “parasites” for “putting profits above care”.

he’s hot, bisexual, italian, and a BLINK?! Luigi Mangione got the full package, free him pic.twitter.com/KRUwJD0qgl

— ezi ★ (@cuntrs) December 10, 2024

Details about his Ivy League education and signs that he held a spectrum of political views also surfaced, and only intensified the interest online. An X account in his name follows public figures from across political divides, including the politician Robert F Kennedy Jr, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the Democratic congresswoman, Edward Snowden, the whistleblower, Richard Dawkins, the biologist, and Joe Rogan, the podcaster.

Among the viral posts on Twitter is a photograph of a woman privately messaging Mangione after his arrest, which has been viewed more than 3.2 million times. “Baby, I know you don’t know me, but I will be praying for your entire exoneration and freedom from this point forward. In exchange, I’m begging you to start an Only Fans account,” she wrote.

“Fan cams” worshipping the “Gen Z assassin” have also appeared on TikTok, with users uploading musical montages featuring images of him shirtless and smiling.

Beanies with Nintendo’s Luigi was now selling on Amazon.

His fans are not just confined to keyboards. Two girls managed to track down Mangione’s yearbook, in which he was described as being “best at pick-up lines” by his classmates.

The pair uploaded their journey to uncover it in a TikTok video, which documented their visit to Gilman School in Baltimore, Maryland, the prestigious $40,000-a-year prep school where Mangione studied.

The reaction to the murder has forced American authorities to remind the public that “this killer was not a hero” in an unusual statement after his arrest.

Josh Shapiro, the governor of Pennsylvania, said: “Brian Thompson was a father to two. He was a husband and he was a friend to many. And, yes, he was the CEO of a health insurance company. In America, we do not kill people in cold blood to resolve policy differences or express a viewpoint.

“I understand people have real frustration with our healthcare system … But I have no tolerance, nor should anyone, for one man using an illegal ‘ghost gun’ to murder someone because he thinks his opinion matters most.

“In a civil society, we are all less safe when ideologues engage in vigilante justice. In some dark corners, this killer is being hailed as a hero. Hear me on this: he is no hero. The real hero in this story is the person who called 911 at McDonald’s.”