Luigi Mangione, conspiracy theories are rampant

In a particularly testy exchange on a conspiracy theory subreddit, two hairdressers clashed over Mangione’s eyebrows.

“I was a hairstylist for 20 years back in the day, no one’s eyebrows grow that fast in three days,” wrote one user. “It was on the state board test. The hair on your head grows a quarter of an inch a month. The hair on your eyebrows grows slower.”

“I’m also a hair stylist and I work with models,” another user replied. “Different lighting and different facial expressions cause different shadows in the photos. This man is trying to start a revolution. Don’t make a conspiracy out of someone who is for the people.”

This is just one of the conspiracy theories swirling around Mangione, however. Another popular theory concerns the number 286 and its multiple links to the alleged shooter.

In his profile on X, Mangione introduces the Pokémon Breloom, which is the 286th Pokémon. Mangione had also placed exactly 286 times on X when he was arrested. 286 is also the code health insurance companies use when “when the appeal time limits for a request for health care are not respected”.

Other TikTok users have pointed out a potential link to the Bible, with Proverbs 28:6 saying, “Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is crooked in his ways.”

Finally, some people online claimed that the distance between the location of the shooting and the McDonald’s where Mangione was spotted is 286 miles. However, according to Google Mapsthe distance is actually 279 miles.

Whatever the distance between it and Manhattan, the location of this McDonald’s itself has given rise to some conspiracy theories, as seen in the work of a Reddit poster who took the time to document the many links between the game of Monopoly table and shooting.

First, they indicated that the backpack found in Central Park by the police contained gambling money. They also noted that Altoona is home to the Pennsylvania Railroad, one of four railroads for sale in the standard US version of the game. Finally, the poster highlighted the fact that McDonald’s carried out a promotional campaign with the game for decades, although it was briefly interrupted at the beginning of the century after a massive fraud scandal involving, among dozens of others, a key insider and Gennaro “Jerry” Colombo, who claimed to be a member of the Colombo crime family.