When Judas Iscariot handed Jesus Christ over to the Roman authorities, he kissed him on the cheek. Luigi Mangione – identified yesterday (December 10) as the suspected UHC assassin – was betrayed not with a kiss, but with an order of fries. For all the talk about how the American working classes – united in their anger towards the private healthcare industry – would never give him up, it was a McDonald’s employee in Pennsylvania who notified the police. As Judas collected his 30 pieces of silver, they will be entitled to the $50k award offered by the FBI. But at what cost?

Upon his arrest, 26-year-old Mangione was discovered to be in possession of both a firearm and a hand-written document railing against corporate America, and he has now been charged with murder. But while the authorities have succeeded in capturing him, the revelation of his identity has done nothing to quash the emerging cult of personality around him or to dilute the sympathy that so many feel towards him. Gripped by Mangione fever, people on the internet are lusting over his photos (to the point of uncouthness), poring over his social media accounts for insights into his personality and even hailing him as a great American hero. 

While here at Dazed we condemn murder and indeed all forms of criminal activity, this is an interesting social phenomenon which demands serious, sober and impartial analysis. From A- Z, here’s how the babygirlification of Mangione is playing out. 

A IS FOR ASSASSIN 

Assassinations are having a moment in 2024, but at the same time, assassins themselves have been in their flop era. After two failed attempts on the life of Donald Trump, the second even more embarrassing than the first, Luigi Mangione has shown how it’s really done: printing a gun on a 3D computer, leaving a bunch of intriguing clues and – crucially – actually hitting the person he was trying shoot.

See also: abdominal muscles.

B IS FOR BRELOOM THE POKÉMON

On Mangione’s alleged X profile, there are three images: a shirtless photo of himself smiling on a mountain ridge (hot), an X-ray showing four pins in his lower back, and a picture of the Pokémon Breloom, known for its special healing abilities in the games. People on the internet are jumping on the fact Breloom’s Pokedex number is 286, which corresponds with a Bible proverb reading “Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is crooked in his ways” and the number of a denial code used in private medical insurance (along with several hundreds of others). Another cryptic clue? Or are people just having slightly too much fun with the idea that he’s a criminal mastermind from a Hollywood film? 

C IS FOR CLAIRO

There has been a lot of fake news swirling around about Mangione since his identity was revealed. Sadly, he did not log Wicked on Letterboxd shortly before carrying out his assassination, nor did he create a Spotify playlist titled ‘Clairo <3).’ But we’re choosing to believe this anyway, because it feels true, and it may come in handy for his legal defence: what judge in the land would dare risk the career-ending accusation of Clairo shade?

(See also, Caroline Calloway, who has claimed that she has slept with Mangione. Sorry, but we’re not buying it.)

D IS FOR DENY, DEFEND AND DEPOSE (AND DAVE FRANCO)

The bullet casings used by Mangione were reportedly inscribed with the words “deny” “defend” and “depose” – reminiscent of the phrase “deny, delay, defend”, often associated with the insurance industry’s strategy of rejecting healthcare claims.

D is also for Dave Franco, who should absolutely play him in the inevitable biopic about his life. And no, Ryan Murphy, we do not want you attached to this project.

E IS FOR ETHEL CAIN

Ethel Cain has posted her support of Mangione on her Instagram stories, writing “violence begets violence”.

F IS FOR FANCAMS

Mangione is obviously the internet’s white boy of the month, with his name trending on every major social media platform. One does not receive a physical award for this honour – instead, they get fancams. 🎵 Mama, I’m in love with a criminal 🎵

G IS FOR GOODREADS

While the Spotify and Letterboxd accounts doing the rounds are sadly fake, Mangione’s Goodreads account does appear to be legitimate, and it provides an insight into where he was coming from. He gave a positive review to the Unabomber’s manifesto, musing on the necessity of political violence: “Fossil fuel companies actively suppress anything that stands in their way and within a generation or two, it will begin costing human lives by greater and greater magnitudes until the earth is just a flaming ball orbiting third from the sun,” he wrote. “Peaceful protest is outright ignored, economic protest isn’t possible in the current system, so how long until we recognise that violence against those who lead us to such destruction is justified as self-defence.” Tea! 

H IS FOR HANDSOME

Let’s not mince our words here: Luigi Mangione is one good-looking chico. We’re not saying this justifies the act of murder, but combined with the fundamental righteousness of his cause (he’s no Ted Bundy), it certainly makes it easier to forgive. Although presumably not for the family of the man he murdered. 

I IS FOR ITALIAN

He is Italian ❤️

J IS FOR JOKER 

The cryptic bullet cases, the Monopoly bag filled with money, the excitement with which people greeted a (sadly fake) YouTube video which implied that being captured was all part of an elaborate plan and promised more violence to come – what Luigi Mangione has revealed, as much as widespread anger about the US healthcare system, is that people are crying out for a real-life Batman villain. While the Riddler has been the go-to comparison, in some key respects he’s more similar to Gotham’s clown prince, particularly as portrayed in Todd Phillip’s 2019 Joker. An alienated young man being driven to an act of violence after being denied healthcare amid the ravages of neoliberal austerity – sound familiar?

K IS FOR KOOL-AID

He didn’t drink it!

L IS FOR LUIGI CRAVE

Step aside, Pop Crave – Luigi Crave is here to stay! A pop culture fan update account has been created to keep Mangione’s fans informed about his latest activities. Follow for more updates!

M IS FOR MANIFESTO

Whether or not it’s a manifesto per se, Mangione was reportedly apprehended with a three-page document in his possession. “These parasites had it coming,” it read, according to a police official who spoke to CNN. “I do apologise for any strife and trauma, but it had to be done.” As well as indicating that he acted alone, the document includes a section where he rails against the US healthcare industry, asking why the US has the most expensive healthcare system in the world while ranking so poorly for life expectancy. 

N IS FOR ‘NO COMPLAINTS – WHAT A GREAT GUY’ 

These were the words of Mangione’s former employer at Surfbreak. When was the last time someone made the news for someone like this and wasn’t universally described as an offputting, reclusive, oddball loner? He really has raised the bar for the lone gunman community.

O IS FOR ONLY IN AMERICA

P IS FOR PARDON

If Joe Biden can pardon his son, then perhaps he can pardon Mangione? Makes you wonder.

Q IS FOR QUEER...? 

We are a reputable news source and are not in the business of publishing unverifiable rumours based on random posts on social media. But we have seen it alleged that Mangione was bisexual and we think it’s at the very least worth giving the matter some serious consideration. Wouldn’t it be cool if that was true? Isn’t this exactly the kind of representation the bi community has been crying out for? Whether or not it’s accurate we simply don’t know, but remember: your headcanon is valid and no one can take that away from you. ❤️

R IS FOR RADICAL CENTRIST

It turns out that Mangione is not a theory-reading Marxist, but someone with a range of often incoherent, contradictory viewpoints. He was favourably retweeting hard-right venture capitalist Peter Thiel and threads complaining about the “woke mind virus”, but also middle-of-the-road liberals like Jonathan Haidt at The Atlantic and earnest posts about the wonders of science. I think the left are just going to have to take the L here: in hindsight, it’s obvious that the shooter wasn’t going to be the kind of person who posts guillotine gifs, tweets about ‘unaliving billionaires’ and memes where video game characters defeat fascism with the power of overwhelming violence – for one thing, he actually left the house. 

S IS FOR ‘SUPER NORMAL’ 

Mangione’s friends have described him as “super normal”. Maybe a society that makes you pay for your healthcare is NOT normal?

T IS FOR TIKTOK

In a devastating PR blow for the Chinese social media giant, Mangione’s Twitter account reveals a long-running dislike of TikTok, which – based on his retweets – he seems to believe is responsible for a mental health crisis among American young people.

U IS FOR UNITED

In killing the CEO of United Healthcare, Mangione has done something far greater: he has “united” vast swathes of the American public. According to the New Yorker, the company’s LinkedIn account was forced to turn off comments on a post about Thompson’s death, as it was receiving thousands of likes, hearts, and clapping reactions. The same happened on Facebook – the statement on his death, at the time of writing, has 121,000 laugh emojis.

V IS FOR VALEDICTORIAN 

Mangione was the class valedictorian at his high school – because I’m not American I don’t know what this is, but it sounds very classy and prestigious! A video of the speech he made at his graduation ceremony shows him to be a bright, polite and thoroughly upstanding young man 👏

X IS FOR X-RAY

The saddest aspect of Mangione’s story is that he seems to have been struggling with crippling back pain. His Goodreads account reveals he logged several books devoted to the subject – including Crooked: Outwitting the Back Pain Industry and Getting on the Road to Recovery – while friends and acquaintances have confirmed that he was suffering from back problems, and that he had recently undergone surgery. His banner photo on X also shows an X-ray of a lumbar spinal fusion. It’s clear that whatever grudge he had with the healthcare industry was personal.

W IS FOR WRESTLING

Of all the details to emerge about Mangione, the fact he was on the high school wrestling team haunts us the most – clearly, the warning signs were there from the beginning. The image of Mangione, his muscles bulging out of a skin-tight leotard as he grapples on the floor, sweating and panting, with another man… It’s simply too disturbing to contemplate.

Y IS FOR YOUTUBE

Yesterday (December 9), a YouTube video purporting to be uploaded by Mangione inspired a flurry of wild speculation. Titled “The Truth”, it began “if you see this, I’m already under arrest”,  and implied something else was going to go down on December 11: “All is scheduled, be patient. Bye for now.” An investigation by The Intercept, however, revealed that the video is a hoax. Shame on whoever did this – spreading harmful and dangerous misinformation that something cool is going to happen only to leave everyone disappointed is not OK. 

Z IS FOR ZEITGEIST

‘Cus he seems to have captured the defining spirit and mood of Americans everywhere.