Luigi Mangione and the dark truth behind our reaction to his arrest

The best of Voices delivered to your inbox every week - from controversial columns to expert analysis Sign up for our free weekly Voices newsletter for expert opinion and columns Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. As well as identifying the suspect, social media sleuths tracked down his LinkedIn, Twitter – even his Goodreads – profiles. open image in gallery ‘People started screengrabbing Mangione’s Twitter banner picture, which includes an image of Pokemon character Breloom, an X-ray of his spine and a topless snap – since dubbed a thirst trap’ Then things took an even sillier turn, when people started screengrabbing Mangione’s Twitter banner picture, which includes an image of Pokemon character Breloom, an X-ray of his spine and a topless snap of himself seemingly taken in Hawaii – since dubbed a “thirst trap”. I even saw one video claiming that Luigi would find itself on the most popular baby names list in 2025 – and depressingly, they might be right. It was also social media users who helped the police track down missing Gabby Petito in 2021, who was allegedly killed by her boyfriend Brian Laundrie – who later shot himself.