Posted on 08/17/2025 7:14:40 AM PDT by MtnClimber
Several weeks ago, an unknown 27-year-old named Shane Tamura walked into a skyscraper lobby in midtown Manhattan, took out an assault rifle he carried with him from Las Vegas, and opened fire. His killing spree resulted in the death of four individuals; it is the worst mass shooting in New York City for over two decades.
Within hours, social media was awash with memeified images reminiscent of those that circulated last December, when an otherwise reclusive 26-year-old named Luigi Mangione walked to the New York Hilton Midtown, pulled out a 3D-printed pistol, and fatally shot UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Both shootings occurred within a few blocks of each other.
Tamura’s violence may have been aimed at the NFL offices in the building, motivated by a claimed head injury. However, on social media, an alternative narrative quickly emerged—one rooted in Marxist class struggle and bolstered by conspiracy theories. It claimed that Tamura was following in the footsteps of Mangione. In other words, many came to believe that the shooter had committed an act of revolutionary political violence on the streets of New York.
The main evidence cited for this narrative was that one of the killer’s principal victims, Wesley LePatner, was CEO of Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust. Widespread chatter on X applauded her killing, falsely accusing her of helping orchestrate the firm’s post-2008 purchase of homes and of financially impoverishing millions of Americans with high rents. Many posts were content simply to cheer the death of a wealthy CEO. According to our analysis, mentions of “CEO Down” on X spiked to nearly ten times their average baseline between the start of July and the New York attack last week.
Many responses to coverage of LePatner’s murder embraced the familiar conspiratorial notion of a high-level coverup. In one version, commentators on X claimed that a coalition of media forces was working to hide the fact that she had been “Luigi’d”—Internet slang for being the victim of explicitly anti-capitalist violence. They dismissed as misdirection the claim that Tamura “accidentally” killed LePatner, as well as the idea that he had been targeting the NFL and simply got off the elevator on the wrong floor. All such explanations, they insisted, were whitewashing meant to keep people from “waking up” and seeing the truth.
Two viral memes circulating on X within hours of the NYC shooting.
Some commentators on X saw proof of complicity in mainstream media headlines. The Wall Street Journal’s coverage, originally titled “One of Blackstone’s Highest-Ranking Women Killed in Shooting,” was cited as evidence of a conspiracy. Why? Because LePatner was a CEO of Blackstone, not merely a senior executive; conspiracists claimed the paper was “downplaying” her role. Such narratives reflected the online belief that the purpose of this supposed coverup was to shield the ruling classes from the inevitable revolt that would follow successful acts of political violence against the corporate elite.
The prevalence of this chatter on social media reflects the unabated growth of what the Network Contagion Research Institute has termed “assassination culture.” Primarily found in left-leaning digital spaces, this online subculture glorifies the political violence epitomized by Mangione’s killing of Thompson last year. Indeed, those affiliated with such an ideology will commonly share memes of Nintendo’s Luigi to cloak the celebration of such violence.
We’ve previously identified how these actions appear to be associated with left-wing authoritarianism (defined as willingness to use coercion for ostensibly progressive objectives) and poor external locus of control (reflecting the degree of powerlessness that people feel in their own lives). People who feel more helpless in controlling their own future are more likely to cheer the murder of wealthy, high-status Americans as a solution to their troubles.
The consequences for American civic life are ominous. The slow but steady rise in justifications for political violence bodes ill for any democracy. Praise for Tamura’s actions—regardless of his true motive—points to a growing belief that electoral politics no longer work and that violent extremism is the only way to challenge a corrupted system.
It does seem like the left is becoming increasingly deranged.
To be fair, sometimes the best way to fight evil is with a different evil.
It does seem like the left is becoming increasingly deranged.
~~~
Sociology 101: Call revenge “justice”, then justify violence based on that base premise.
Because leftists are intrinsically hateful, they obsess about justifying their hate. Because of those obsessions, leftists project their vengeful contexts on everything, which is why they reacted so aggressively to January 6th protests. They fantasize about power through violence, and when they see violence or aggression that is not aligned with their politics, they fear it on a deep level. It hits them right where they live.
It does seem like the left is becoming increasingly deranged.
There is going to be a fight, let’s get it started and over with.
I say that to get us mentally prepared. we are all going to have to be part of the fight and it will cost us individually.
If I shake you awake in the middle of the night and ask you what you are fighting for, after you reach for your gun, what do you tell me? (read this out loud and think about it.)
I think Trump could tell me, can you?
ONLY by returning to faith in God, thru His Son, Jesus the Christ, will save America.
The only evil in this situation is Mangione.
Yogi?
Yes, Booboo.
Nope. I beg to differ. Mangione at least killed the CEO in public. The CEO killed hundreds, if not thousands, from behind a desk.
Either go to DU or change your FR Name.
Shame on you for offering that justification.
“...pulled out a 3D-printed pistol...”
Wow, I hadn’t heard that before.
Let's also not forget that Thompson was in NYC specifically to talk to shareholders and brag about how much money he had made them by denying policyholders claims.
You may not call that evil, but I do.
Sorry, but I have zero sympathy for Brian Thompson.
Did you take a lot of drugs when you were younger?
Here comes the bootlickers anonymous brigade
Grab your goggles... They’ll be spitting in your face a lot to defend their masters.
ZOT kittens?
Maybe if CEOs realized that getting paid hundreds of times more than their employees is evil. Maybe if CEOs stopped running their companies via layoff. Maybe if CEOs stopped deciding the best way to make their market go up is to choke supply. Maybe if CEOs actually listened to the fact we’ve been saying these kind of things about them for THIRTY FREAKING YEARS and they just keep turning that toxic behavior up. Maybe then they wouldn’t be targets. But frankly, the CEOs of the world have turned it into an us and them world. And they’re really outnumbered. And we can’t remove their livelihood like they’re so fond of doing to us. But they are still vulnerable.
Why do I suddenly hear “The Internationale” playing in the background?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.