Northeast
UnitedHealthcare CEO murder suspect Luigi Mangione's looks captivate TikTok users after perp walk
Social media users, primarily young women, are fawning over Luigi Mangione, the suspect accused of murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Manhattan on Dec. 4 in what authorities described as a premeditated attack.
“Luigi Mangione allegedly conducted the carefully premeditated and targeted execution of Brian Thompson to incite national debates,” James Dennehy, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s New York field office, said Thursday in a statement after Mangione’s extradition to New York. “This alleged plot demonstrates a cavalier attitude towards humanity — deeming murder an appropriate recourse to satiate personal grievances.”
Mangione is charged with first-degree murder in furtherance of an act of terrorism, stalking and a slew of other state and federal charges in both New York and Pennsylvania, for allegedly gunning down Thompson, a married father of two from Minnesota.
Mangione allegedly shot Thompson outside the Manhattan hotel where UnitedHealthcare’s annual shareholder conference was being held, in an act prosecutors believe was meant to send a message to the health care insurance industry based on a manifesto found on the suspect when he was arrested days later in Pennsylvania.
UNITEDHEALTHCARE CEO MURDER: DEATH PENALTY ON THE TABLE FOR SUSPECT LUIGI MANGIONE, WHO FACES FEDERAL CHARGES
Luigi Mangione is escorted from an NYPD helicopter in New York City on Thursday. (Rashid Umar Abbasi for Fox News Digital)
Since the attack and Mangione’s arrest, social media has erupted with positive posts about the murder suspect.
A TikTok video of an artist sketching Mangione’s face over Alexander Hamilton’s face on a $10 bill to the sound of news anchors talking about the words “deny,” “defend” and “depose” — the same words found on shell casings at the crime scene — has more than a million views and 234,000 likes.
UNITEDHEALTHCARE CEO MURDER SUSPECT LUIGI MANGIONE INDICTED IN NEW YORK
The CEO of UnitedHealthcare’s parent company mourned the killing of Brian Thompson and implored people to see that industry executives are trying their best with a flawed system. (AP Photo/UnitedHealth Group)
“‘Give me liberty or give me death’ was the [original] ‘deny defend depose,’” one commenter wrote.
A video montage of clips from Mangione’s Thursday extradition from Pennsylvania to New York, surrounded by NYPD officers escorting him off a plane, has gone viral with more than 2 million views.
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Luigi Mangione is escorted from an NYPD helicopter in New York City on Thursday. (Rashid Umar Abbasi for Fox News Digital)
“[T]hey acting like he’s el chapo or something,” one user commented on the video, with another comparing the clip to “Gotham City.”
Other video montages of Mangione’s perp walk, with hundreds of thousands of views, play along to songs by Taylor Swift, Lana Del Rey and Pink Floyd.
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Luigi Mangione is escorted from an NYPD helicopter in New York City on Thursday. (Rashid Umar Abbasi for Fox News Digital)
“Hes being transferred from jail looking hotter… fresh shave, a fade, and fresh curls omg,” one user captioned a video of Mangione being escorted to New York.
“He actually came out looking better,” another user commented.
“I really hope, when he gets out of this, his friends didn’t lose too much of the sweet, caring Luigi they had before this,” one user wrote in response to a video of Mangione. “I hope he gets the support he needs to get over how traumatic this has been.”
From left: Adam Giesseman of Piqua, Ohio; Ashlyn Adami of South Bend, Indiana; and Ethan Merrill of South Bend, Indiana, protest outside the Blair County Courthouse in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, after a hearing for Luigi Mangione on Thursday. (Gary M. Baranec)
Several experts in psychology and social media explained the obsession with Mangione on TikTok and other social media platforms to Fox News Digital.
Rachel Goldberg, LMFT, PMH-C of Rachel Goldberg Therapy in Los Angeles, pointed to “three main reasons” behind the Mangione obsession.
COULD UNITEDHEALTHCARE CEO MURDER SUSPECT LUIGI MANGIONE FACE DEATH PENALTY?
Luigi Mangione shouts while officers restrain him as he arrives for his extradition hearing at Blair County Courthouse in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, on Dec. 10. (David Dee Delgado for Fox News Digital)
“First, he comes across as a relatively ‘normal’ guy — someone you might have interacted with in your life without thinking twice, or even had pleasant interactions with,” Goldberg said. “Second, there’s still a lot of mystery surrounding the situation. We don’t fully understand what prompted him to act — whether it was tied to mental illness, frustration over his back issues, or that combined with other factors. Finally, this case has given people a platform to express their dissatisfaction with the health insurance system.”
“Many people carry that frustration silently, but this situation has created a sense of camaraderie, allowing them to openly vent about it,” she continued.
Dr. Holly Schiff, a licensed clinical psychologist, told Fox News Digital that “[s]omeone who becomes famous for a scandalous or controversial reason is alluring.”
In this courtroom sketch, Luigi Mangione sits between his defense attorneys, Karen Friedman Agnifilo and her husband Marc Agnifilo, during his federal court hearing in New York City on Thursday. (Jane Rosenberg)
“Social media thrives on engagement and a sensational story like this generates likes, comments and shares. There is a sense of excitement or thrill from following and being a ‘part’ of a dramatic or maybe controversial and taboo subject,” Schiff explained.
Social media can also “create a sense of groupthink where people will start to adopt the same opinions or behaviors of others just to fit in.”
“If there is a certain viewpoint, in this case, admiration for Luigi Mangione, becomes widespread, it starts to pick up steam and become a larger movement,” Schiff said. “Social media makes this spread like wildfire and happen much more quickly. There is no critical thinking or awareness of the implications as this happens. Groupthink happens when a group of people make an irrational or dysfunctional decision due to a desire for harmony or conformity, and this can lead to so-called bad decisions.”
The suspected gunman in UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s murder, believed to be Luigi Mangione, is seen flirting with a hostel employee on surveillance footage before the Dec. 4 shooting in New York. (NYPD)
If Mangione “were perceived as less attractive, the public’s reaction to his crime might be harsher,” she continued.
“Society tends to judge less attractive individuals more negatively, especially when it comes to criminal investigations,” Schiff said. “There is a cognitive bias called the halo effect, where our impression of a person is based on a single trait. In Luigi’s case, people are making assumptions about his overall character based solely on his physical appearance and looks. If he is considered conventionally attractive, it makes it easier for some people to gloss over their actions, or in the extreme version we are seeing here, romanticize his actions.”
There is also a general fascination among the public with the “bad boy” or “outlaw” type, as well as true crime as a literary and film genre, “which has desensitized us to murder cases and criminal investigations and in some cases even normalizes true crime.”
Luigi Mangione is pictured in a Facebook photo. (Luigi Mangione/Facebook)
London-based music industry expert and Forbes 30 under 30 lister Nikki Camilleri noted that the public’s glorification of a murder suspect runs “deeper than pretty privilege,” the phenomenon of conventionally attractive people receiving preferential treatment.
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“Counter-culture and an anti-establishment sentiment has resurged more prominently in the recent past and what Luigi represents is this trend,” Camilleri said, adding that Mangione is “a young person who, in the eyes of many, has gone against ‘the man’ and acted on a resentment many feel towards major health care companies and similar large establishments.”
A courtroom sketch depicts Luigi Mangione’s appearance in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, on Dec. 9. (Dave Klug)
“It’s a modern-day anti-establishment protest if you will — happening on social media and with Luigi as the face of it,” she explained. Similar “crazes” are seen with boy bands, artists and influencers, “which all stem from the psychological associations people make with the stars,” Camilleri said.
Michael Petegorsky, chief strategy officer at psychedelic medicine provider Mindbloom, said he has “seen firsthand how mental health struggles often manifest in unexpected ways, including collective behaviors like those we’re seeing around Luigi Mangione.”
Petegorsky pointed to frustrations with the health care insurance industry as part of the public’s infatuation with the murder suspect.
Luigi Mangione is led into an NYPD vehicle following his extradition hearing at Blair County Courthouse in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, on Thursday. (David Dee Delgado for Fox News Digital)
“The obsession with Mangione highlights the extent of the broken mental health care system in the U.S., where millions are suffering without access to adequate care,” Petegorsky said. “When basic mental health needs go unmet, people may gravitate toward sensationalized stories or irrational groupthink as an outlet for their frustration, curiosity, or even an unconscious attempt to process deeper societal issues.”
While officials have not commented on an official motive, the public has speculated that the suspect had strong grievances with the health care insurance industry.
The 26-year-old Mangione is originally from Maryland and has recently lived in California and Hawaii. He graduated valedictorian from the Gilman School, a private, all-boys high school in Baltimore, in 2016. Mangione went on to receive his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in computer science from the University of Pennsylvania in 2020.
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A Times Square Ball Drop, a rolling series of ball drops, timed to occur at midnight on July 3 in every U.S. time zone from Guam to American Samoa, is part of the “Giving 4th Broadcast Benefit Show,” creating a nearly 24-hour celebration of the 250th anniversary. It’s part of the broader “Giving 4th” initiative that aims to make and establish Independence Day the biggest annual day of giving.
A time capsule will be buried in Philadelphia to be opened in 2276 on July 4. It contains a carefully curated collection of letters and artifacts reflecting the leadership, institutions, and communities that shape the country today. It will include contributions from all three branches of the U.S. federal government and submissions from each of the 50 states, Washington D.C., and five territories.
6-minute read
NJ has had an image problem for 250 years. We love it anyway
New Jersey has always had an image problem. Its residents have access to two world-class cities, mountains, beaches. But the punchlines remain.
New Jersey has always had an image problem.
The state was central to the nation’s founding. Its residents have access to two world-class cities, mountains, beaches, suburbs and farms. And yet, for outsiders, the punchlines often ring loudest.
The malls. The Turnpike. “What exit are you from?”
We know the jokes. The big hair, the attitudes and property taxes.
And yet we defend the Garden State.
“I can talk about my state, but you can’t,” said Ashley Koning, director of the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling at Rutgers University.
Its 2015 poll found more than 75% of New Jerseyans took pride in the state, even as 57% said New Jersey had a negative image.
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Residents polled most often pointed to location, convenience and overall quality of life as reasons New Jersey is a good place to live.
We have a complicated relationship with our state. We’re not blind to its problems, like the cost of living. But we also see its quality of life.
“New Jerseyans have such a wealth of pride,” Koning said. “We’re not afraid to say what we think is wrong with the state and say where we want to see the state improve — but I think we’re also the first ones to defend our state.”
That pride comes with an edge. Jokes about “The Sopranos” still land, but New Jerseyans get the last laugh.
“New Jersey is often a butt of jokes across the country, but I think the real joke is that people don’t get to experience the beauty that is New Jersey,” Koning said. “And I feel like New Jerseyans know that very well.”
That tension may be the best way to understand the state as America approaches its 250th anniversary of independence.
Would Founding Fathers recognize today’s New Jersey?
Would a New Jerseyan from 1776 recognize this place?
“In terms of technology, airplanes, cars, obviously there’s just so much that would be different,” said Maxine Lurie, professor emerita of history at Seton Hall University and chair of the New Jersey Historical Commission.
In the 18th century, a letter crossing the Atlantic could take months.
A person in 1776 might have thought of themselves as a New Jerseyan, but not in the modern sense. They were part of the New Jersey colony, and British subjects.
Local identity was common in the colonies, said Melissa Kozlowski, director of curatorial affairs at the Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music at Monmouth University and director of public history.
“All of the colonies had a very unique identity in the colonial era,” Kozlowski said. “They didn’t feel as if they were one country. That’s why the revolution was such an audacious concept.”
For New Jersey, that local-first identity shows up everywhere today.
The state is built from smaller identities: towns, counties, regions. Whether someone faces New York or Philadelphia affects whether they say Taylor ham or pork roll and what they mean when they say “the city.”
North Jersey vs. South Jersey? Try East Jersey vs. West
That sets up a familiar debate: North Jersey versus South Jersey.
Long before North and South became the dividing line, there was East Jersey and West Jersey.
They were separate colonies before uniting in 1702. The dividing line ran diagonally across the state. People in West Jersey were closer to what we call South Jersey and looked toward Philadelphia. They read Philadelphia newspapers and had business and family connections in Pennsylvania. People in East Jersey looked toward New York.
“So as we look for television stations or for sports teams, we look in those two different directions. In a sense, they did then too,” Lurie said.
Being caught in the shadows of New York and Philadelphia can be a source of pride and irritation at the same time.
“We are caught between two of the most well-known cities in the world,” Koning said.
Rutgers-Eagleton’s polling grew partly out of that problem.
“The Rutgers-Eagleton Poll was meant to bring a voice to the people of New Jersey,” Koning said. “New Jersey feels this identity crisis that that voice often will get lost.”
Central Jersey? For real?
And what about Central Jersey? To northerners and southerners, its very existence is up for debate.
“As a Central Jersey girl, it definitely does exist,” said Koning, who grew up in the region.
Central Jersey generally includes places around Somerset, Middlesex and Mercer counties, with New Brunswick as a kind of middle point, she said. The area has “a little bit of everything,” while also sharing pieces of North Jersey, South Jersey and the Shore.
Identity crisis is nothing new for the Garden State. That nickname, by the way, is credited to Abraham Browning, who coined it in 1876, according to the state library. Browning had been the state attorney general from 1845 to 1850.
During the Revolution, New Jersey produced food both armies needed, and its position between two great cities made it attractive to the British, who — if they could have controlled it — would have divided the colonies, north and south.
They overran the state, but they couldn’t hold it, Lurie said.
British forces held New York for much of the war and they held Philadelphia for about a year. They held New Brunswick for seven months. But the state remained contested thanks to the toughness of New Jerseyans.
600 NJ battles and skirmishes during Revolution
Anytime British and Hessian forces moved into New Jersey, local militias attacked them as they searched for food.
“They couldn’t hold on to it because they were just being picked off,” Lurie said.
There were more than 600 battles and skirmishes in New Jersey during the Revolution, Lurie said. “I’ve always told my students you would not want to have lived here during the Revolution.”
For everyday people, the Revolution was not only about ideals. It was about danger, inflation, raids and not knowing who might appear at the door.
“It affected almost everybody, everywhere in one way or another,” Lurie said.
Well before the New Jersey Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway, New Jersey was already defined by movement. The roads were rougher, but rivers like the Raritan and Passaic helped move goods to hubs like New Brunswick and Newark.
By the 1830s, the Morris Canal helped moved goods east and west across the state between the Delaware River and New York Harbor — an early, watery version of Route 80.
The speed has changed since then. But the state’s role is familiar.
“We are a transitory state,” Koning said.
From taverns to roadside diners
Constant movement helps explain another piece of the identity. A New Jerseyan from 1776 wouldn’t know what to make of a modern roadside diner with its chrome and disco fries. But a roadside stop where people eat and talk would make sense.
“Taverns were really important because that’s where they got news, that’s where they talked to each other,” Lurie said.
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In a largely agricultural colony with few large buildings, taverns and churches served as gathering places. Elizabethtown, now Elizabeth, was the largest town in the colony, said Lurie. It had about 350 houses.
New Jerseyans still need places to sit and argue about what’s going on. While Lurie thinks the modern idea of an in-your-face New Jersey personality may be more of a 20th-century idea tied to media, Koning sees pushback as part of the culture.
New Jerseyans are fierce defenders of the state because it’s often underestimated.
“Our importance is so undervalued and so understated,” Koning said.
She pointed to New Jersey’s role in the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, invention and entertainment as examples of how much the state has contributed.
New Jersey has produced some of the country’s most famous entertainers. But no single one of them can represent such a diverse state. Bruce Springsteen stands for working class culture. Jon Bon Jovi gives another impression and so did Frank Sinatra.
“You can say Bruce signifies and is emblematic of the hard-working lives within New Jersey and that working culture,” Koning said. “But then at the very same time, in contrast, if we look at Sinatra, this is the smoothness of city-adjacent living and Hoboken.”
No single New Jerseyan
Outsiders may picture “The Sopranos,” “Jersey Shore,” malls and big hair. But New Jersey is too varied to be captured that way, Koning said. “Our uniqueness becomes the stereotype.”
So there’s no single New Jerseyan.
“I think that’s the beauty of our state, much like it’s the beauty of our country and what our country should be about,” Koning said. “The thing that unifies us is our differences bring us together.”
The New Jerseyan of the Revolution would probably flee from the sound of the E Street Band, but they might recognize the geography, the waterways, the pull of the cities and that New Jersey is central to the national story — and still fighting to be seen clearly, and appreciated.
“The historical connections are all around us,” Koning said, “even when we don’t recognize it.”
Pennsylvania
Happy Valley Casino revenue rises in second month, Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board says
Happy Valley Casino in State College posted a sharp increase in gambling revenue in its second month of operation, according to newly released figures from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.
After questions and concerns followed the casino’s first-month revenue report, the latest numbers show gains for both slot machines and table games.
Slot wagers jumped from about $6.5 million in the first month to more than $31 million in the second month. The casino’s gross revenue for slots — described as the amount remaining after taxes and other mandated payments — rose from about $713,000 in the first month to about $3.1 million in the second month. The report also shows an increase in table games revenue.
The new report notes that 17 slot machines have been added, bringing the total to 587.
Happy Valley Casino opened after close to six years of development. Gaming Control Board administrators said they are confident about its impact, noting that the casino is “not only producing hundreds of jobs for the community,” but is also “giving back with tax revenue that’s being used within the community.”
The casino’s original general manager, Eric Pearson, left last month. There was no word yet on a new general manager.
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