'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/2wBDAAYEBQYFBAYGBQYHBwYIChAKCgkJChQODwwQFxQYGBcUFhYaHSUfGhsjHBYWICwgIyYnKSopGR8tMC0oMCUoKSj/2wBDAQcHBwoIChMKChMoGhYaKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCj/wgARCAAHAAoDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAFgABAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUG/8QAFQEBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAgP/2gAMAwEAAhADEAAAAMJSBT//xAAeEAACAQQDAQAAAAAAAAAAAAACAwQAAQUGERQhgv/aAAgBAQABPwCHtuejbqGGiEoFpaEZKkncUkV+CEz59vUjVt3nyGzHZXFEyQV2kXUX7cviv//EABkRAAEFAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABAjGBwf/aAAgBAgEBPwBk0mn/xAAZEQEAAgMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABAAIiYcH/2gAIAQMBAT8AsYDt5P/Z'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Claims of Nintendo sharing a post related to Luigi Mangione’s arrest started making rounds on X. This comes after Mangione was accused of fatally shooting 50-year-old UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on Wednesday, December 4. Despite claims of the gaming company posting in reference to Mangione, it is worth noting that the rumors are not true.
A user @SpencerAlthouse took to X on December 10 to share the screenshot of the post that was supposedly deleted by “Nintendo of America.” The screenshot included an image of the game character, Luigi, trapped in what seemed to be a cage. The image also read, “Free him.” The user also wrote, “nintendo has spoken.”
The post went viral and amassed over six million views at the time of writing this article.
As many continue to interact with this post, it is worth noting that Nintendo never uploaded it. The image of the post going viral is doctored.
For the unversed, Luigi Mangione was arrested on Monday, December 9. The alleged shooter was caught at an Altoona, Pennsylvania McDonald’s branch. According to the BBC, he is now facing a second-degree murder charge, one forgery charge, and three weapon possession-related charges.
Nintendo did not tweet in reference to Luigi Mangione
There is no record of Nintendo actually uploading the aforementioned post on any of their social media platforms. Furthermore, X user @SpencerAlthouse confirmed in an exclusive statement to Snopes that he created the image himself. Althouse said:
“I created/ photoshopped the image myself.”
Following Elon Musk’s takeover of X in 2022, he changed the name of ‘Twitter’ to X and also changed the terminology of “tweet” to “post.” If Nintendo’s post was real, the message should have read, “Sorry, that post has been deleted,” instead of “This Tweet has been deleted.”
This is not the first time false claims of companies posting on social media in reference to Luigi Mangione have gone viral online. A fake post of Burger King supposedly writing on X, “We don’t snitch,” also circulated online on December 10.
This happened after McDonald’s alerted the police of Mangione being present in one of their branches, as per BBC. However, the same was debunked as there was no history of Burger King posting the same on their accounts.
More about Luigi Mangione following his arrest
According to Luigi Mangione’s LinkedIn account, he worked as a data engineer at the car-buying website TrueCar. He also interned at Maryland-based video game studio Firaxis.
Prior to the same, he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2020 with a Master of Science in engineering degree. He also obtained his Bachelor of Science degree in engineering. While at Stanford University in California, Mangione was the head counselor for pre-collegiate studies in 2019.
Luigi Mangione was born to a prominent Maryland family. As per CBS News, they own multiple health care facilities, real estate companies, and country clubs.
His social media accounts have been going viral following his arrest, including that of his reported Goodreads account. It featured the following books: Industrial Society and Its Future, Crooked: Outwitting the Back Pain Industry and Getting on the Road to Recovery, and Back Mechanic, among others.
