‘Don’t They Want Us To Hate Him’: Social Media Users React To Luigi Mangione’s NYC Arrival

Social media users have been criticized for heroizing Luigi Mangione and his recent public appearance appeared to spark more fanfare.

New York City officials wanted to send a message on Thursday by escorting Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old charged in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, from a helipad after he was extradited to Manhattan.

But social media users, criticized for heroizing Mangione, seemingly found a different message. His flanked arrival spurred an image dubbed by one viral post as a “late contender for hardest image of the year.”

New York Mayor Eric Adams and law enforcement officers followed Mangione — the subject of thirst tweets, a look-alike contest and other fanfare — in a so-called “perp walk” before he was brought to a federal courthouse in the city.

Mangione was flown to New York after waiving his right to an extradition hearing in Pennsylvania, the state where he was arrested after a multi-day search that ended at a McDonald’s.

Mangione appeared in an orange jumpsuit and handcuffs as officers surrounded him in a “perp walk” that, per CNN’s senior justice correspondent Evan Pérez, is usually avoided as such a move is “considered prejudicial.”