The knives weren’t even back in the drawer before the online cheering section clocked in.
At Saturday night’s White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, authorities say a suspect tried—and failed—to breach security with the alleged goal of targeting President Donald Trump and members of his team. Within hours, the usual corners of the internet lit up—not with relief, but with snide disappointment that the plot didn’t succeed.
And right on cue, critics are already predicting the next act: the media makeover.
One viral post, reacting to early reports and screenshots of a supposed manifesto, quipped that the suspect would get the “Luigi Mangione treatment”—a jab at how certain violent figures morph into cause celebres in sympathetic coverage. Expect glossy profiles, tortured backstories, and a sprinkling of “misunderstood” for good measure.
If that sounds cynical, it’s because there’s precedent. After the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, the accused, Luigi Mangione, quickly attracted a strange fan base. Admirers flooded his inbox with letters, praise, and even photos. From behind bars at the Metropolitan Detention Center, Mangione responded with a statement dripping in gratitude:
“I am overwhelmed by — and grateful for — everyone who has written me to share their stories and express their support,” he said, adding that the mail “has transcended political, racial, and even class divisions… While it is impossible for me to reply to most letters, please know that I read every one that I receive.” A curious kind of celebrity, to put it mildly.
Now, with a new suspect in custody—reportedly a California schoolteacher—there are already signs the cycle could repeat. Out in Portland, activists gathered outside an ICE facility, not to condemn political violence, but to rally behind the accused. According to journalist Andy Ngo, some attendees even floated the idea of launching a fundraising campaign for the suspect’s legal defense.
One organizer, identified as Vincent Hawkins, predicted a multimillion-dollar GoFundMe and suggesting they’d bring in Mangione’s attorney, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, to handle the case.
Of course, not everyone’s convinced this suspect has the “right look” to capture the cultural imagination. Some online skeptics argue that a failed attack doesn’t carry the same myth-making potential. Others are already placing bets on which publication might be first to roll out the red carpet—names like Rolling Stone inevitably get tossed around, given its infamous past cover featuring Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
Fair or not, the perception sticks: in certain circles, notoriety plus ideology can equal a perverse kind of fame.
