Wesley LePatner and the sinister rise of ‘Luigism’

Shane Tamura walked into a lobby on 345 Park Avenue on July 28 and opened fire on the crowd leaving work. He was mentally unwell, angry about football giving him head injuries, and wanted to target the NFL Headquarters to enact his revenge. But he got off at the wrong floor, and ended up spraying bullets into a group of office workers unaffiliated with the sports organization. Then it became clear that one of these victims, Wesley LePatner, was CEO at a large investment company. And when the followers of the prophet Luigi Mangione heard the news, they had a different take: an accident is just what they want you to believe.

Before she died, the 43-year-old LePatner was the CEO of Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust in New York. And for countless people on social media, that fact alone was enough to make this story a lot more interesting than any random and senseless act of violence. In last month’s Spectator, I covered the gripping rise of the Luigi Mangione cult: the new social media driven subculture which glorifies the killing of C-suite executives as acts of revolutionary murder. I had secretly hoped it was just a blip. And whilst this time’s outburst was more modest than last year’s, I still suspect I was wrong to believe it might dissipate. These posts received millions of views. Luigism is here to stay. 

The first reaction from Mangione sympathizers was textbook: this was a cover-up. Shane Tamura clearly embodied the leonine spirit of Luigi and had purposely killed LePatner following the call for revolt against capitalist elites. The fact that the “mainstream media” was covering up the truth by saying he was mentally ill was to be expected. The ruling class will say anything to keep their foot on our throats, and attention off a revolt. After all, didn’t the killings of these CEOs happen mere blocks from one another? 

When it became clear that Tamura probably did have head injuries, the conspiracy line collapsed. But then, something even worse came to replace it. Across social media, the cry went out: it’s not a conspiracy – but she deserved it anyway. LePatner was guilty of a series of heinous crimes against the American working class. This was because, they say, Blackstone has been buying up homes, jacking up the rents and financially destroying millions of Americans since the 2008 crash. Like the former CEO of UnitedHealthcare Brian Thompson, LePatner was part of a cabal of exploiters who merit the violence they receive. And, they said, the country is much better off without them.

Then – just as with Luigi Mangione – this violence was promptly immersed in the bizarre online ecosystem of memes. Luigi from Nintendo featured prominently, for obvious reasons. But the most significant new example is called “CEO Down,” and often involves some kind of weird cartoonish star smiling wildly at the viewer. On X, the phrase “CEO Down” grew exponentially in the weeks following the murder, and we’re likely to see it reemerge the next time around. The phrase has swiftly become the new finishing bell for another Luigi-inspired assassination, or at least one which the saint would approve. 

And just as distressingly for her family, LePatner’s face was quickly plastered over X with the phrase “Luigi’d” all over it. We’ve seen the term growing in use, especially on Reddit. Dictionaries add eponymous verbs all the time: “to Boycott” (from Charles Boycott) or “to Gerrymander” (from Elbridge Gerry) are two classic examples. I wonder if they might add another. “To Luigi” (from Luigi Mangione): to murder someone based on their professional status as a high level executive in an industry that affects many Americans. Usually found on social media, or video-gaming forums. 

This justification of violence against executives reflects two patterns on the left: external locus of control and authoritarianism. A great many Americans feel that they have absolutely no power over their economic or political future – and violent revolution is the answer.

It’s easy to dismiss these social media comments as nothing more than jetsam floating on top of an ocean of slop and nonsense. Don’t. Permission structures that lead to violence always start this way. And we’ve seen countless examples of comments with identical phrasing across social media platforms. They’re still nibbling at the edges of mainstream politics, true. But with every killing, these bites are getting just a little bit bigger.