Some are accusing the employee of being a ‘snitch’ and are encouraging others to ‘boycott’ the restaurant
The McDonald’s restaurant where shooting suspect Luigi Mangione was arrested is being flooded with bad reviews in an apparent show of support for the arrested man.
UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, 50, was shot dead last week outside the Hilton Hotel in Midtown Manhattan, New York, in an alleged targeted attack.
A nationwide manhunt was launched for Mangione after his photographs were released and a $60,000 reward was offered by the FBI and NYPD.
The 26-year-old was then taken into custody after being spotted in a McDonald’s restaurant in Altoona, Pennsylvania on Monday (December 9), after an employee reportedly recognized him and called the police.
Luigi Mangione was arrested in Pennsylvania and has since been charged with Brian Thompson’s murder (Pennsylvania Department of Corrections)
Now, the fast-food restaurant is facing some bizarre backlash as several one-star reviews have been posted to the McDonald’s restaurant’s Yelp and Google reviews within the past 24 hours.
One review posted 19 hours ago at the time of writing read: “The staff accused me of assassinating a CEO. Incredibly unprofessional and class-traitor staff.”
Negative comments of a similar nature have since been rolling in, as another accused the McDonald’s joint of being a ‘fed hotspot’ and alluded to officers trawling the area and ‘looking for an excuse to arrest citizens’.
In a dark take, others appear to be rallying around Mangione by posting unrealistic stories and jokes – and accusing the restaurant of employing ‘snitches’ while encouraging others to ‘boycott’ the place.
One review read: ‘Fire all the rats working here’ while another echoed ‘service was terrible’ with ‘rats everywhere’.
Negative reviews have come in for the McDonald’s restaurant following Mangione’s arrest (Google)
A third also said: “Dog food, rats everywhere.’
Meanwhile, Yelp has stalled reviews for the Altoona fast-food restaurant on its site, citing ‘unusual activity’ after ‘increased public attention’.
The alert adds: “While we don’t take a stand one way or the other when it comes to this incident, we’ve temporarily disabled the posting of content to this page as we work to investigate whether the content you see here reflects actual consumer experiences rather than the recent events.”
However, before the notice was posted, dozens of reviews were posted referring to ‘snitches’.
One Yelp reviewer wrote: “The fries were sad and cold, like that snitches heart. Pretty depressing atmosphere too. Feels likes someone might rat out on you.”
Brian Thompson was just 50 years old when he was fatally shot (UnitedHealth Group)
The commentary comes as many are expressing support for the suspected killer online, with some responses growing around the perceptions that medical insurance companies put profits over people.
Thompson was shot dead outside the New York hotel where UnitedHealthcare was holding an investors’ meeting.
Mangione was arraigned on Monday night, five days after he allegedly gunned down the CEO, and has since been charged with Thompson’s murder.
The McDonald’s worker reportedly called the police after noticing Mangione ‘acting suspiciously’ in the restaurant at around 9.15am.
Featured Image Credit: Getty Images/Handout / Google
