In the aftermath of ex-Ivy League student Luigi Mangione allegedly shooting and killing UHC CEO Brian Thompson just 6 days ago, the entire world is still in shock as questions about Mangione are being asked in rapid speed.
From Super Mario jokes being made due to him possessing the name Luigi, to a revelation about a horrific back surgery possibly affecting his mental well-being, information surrounding the controversial figure will undoubtedly continue to grow from here over the next several months.
Given the popularity of Mangione in the eyes of the media right now, folks are unsurprisingly interested in every move he made both before and after his alleged shooting of Thompson — including which McDonald’s menu item he snacked on before his recent arrest.
Before Mangione was spotted and eventually identified by a McDonald’s customer (first believed to be an employee), the 26-year-old was eating a crispy, golden McDonald’s hash brown before police arrived on the scene and apprehended the alleged assailant. Of course, this comes almost a week after video surveillance captured Mangione in a NYC Starbucks just before he allegedly carried out the slaying of Thompson as the CEO was on his way to an investors’ meeting.
Since his arrest, the general public has been split directly down the middle in regards to Mangione, with a large majority deeming him as a “quiet hero” who did what was necessary to send a message on the landscape of greedy health insurance in the U.S., while others are sticking by their opinion that murder, no matter the circumstance, is morally and criminally wrong.
Nevertheless, does Mangione chowing down on a McDonald’s hash brown paint him in a different light as a human enjoying food just like the rest of us? I suppose that’s up to each individual person to decide for themselves. I mean, it’s true that many folks do enjoy a crispy and delicious McDonald’s hash brown from time to time, which certainly is not a crime in itself, but it also doesn’t take away from the fact that Mangione is being accused and charged of executing another human being — at least in the eyes of the law. As one X user put it, the hash brown was likely Mangione’s “last meal as a free man.”
If Mangione’s fandom wasn’t already growing on social media throughout the night, it definitely has reached a new level of adoration — with a plethora of netizens once again cheering on the 26-year-old, this time for eating a hash brown and suggesting that it was simply “too early” to enjoy a McRib instead.
Onlookers on the other side of the coin are upholding a strong, collective opinion that details of the case still aren’t completely adding up. A decent portion of the nation are still wondering whether Mangione and the man in NYC video surveillance are the same person, with some questioning the difference in eyebrow length and shape, as others remain dumbfounded how he was actually spotted in a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania, of all places.
Either way, Mangione peacefully enjoying a favored McDonald’s breakfast item before being publicly recognized and seized by police certainly wasn’t on our bingo card, but it’s clear that more pieces of this jaw-dropping puzzle will release as time goes on — so it’s confident to say that we’ve only just grazed the surface of this earth-shattering story.