A supporter waits outside a federal courthouse in New York ahead of a January 2026 hearing for Luigi Mangione.

After Luigi Mangione was arrested in December 2024 in connection with the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, the internet did what it often does: It turned something serious into a joke.

Although Mangione has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder in New York and to federal stalking charges, viral memes at the time romanticized him as a popular – and incredibly attractive – man of the people who made corporate elites within the American health insurance industry afraid.

Originally published on theconversation.com, part of the BLOX Digital Content Exchange.