The ongoing social media commentary about the alleged killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson is not, given the state of contemporary society, entirely surprising. Nor is it without precedent.
Thompson was gunned down on a midtown Manhattan sidewalk on Dec. 4. Since then, there’s been fawning social media attention on Thompson’s alleged killer, 26-year-old Luigi Mangione, now in police custody following a highly publicized manhunt.
Social media users and others have adulated Mangione for allegedly shooting Thompson, with the veneration turning him into a kind of modern vigilante folk hero.
