Social Media Troll Blackstone Executive Wesley LePatner’s Death with Luigi Mangione-Inspired Memes
Some social media users responded to the death of Blackstone executive Wesley LePatner, a victim of the mass shooting, with Luigi Mangione-inspired memes. LePatner was killed at 345 Park Ave. in the midtown mass shooting on Monday (July 28). Following the incident, a photo of LePatner started circulating online.
The image featured a portrait of Blackstone’s former senior managing director stamped with the phrase “LUIGI’D” in red across her face. The picture was accompanied by a caption, which read as follows:
Wesley LePatner, CEO of Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, has been evicted from the mortal plane.
The social media post referred to Luigi Mangione, the infamous man who was accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in a targeted assassination on the streets of Midtown Manhattan on December 4. Some people consider him a cult-figure and valorize his alleged assassination as a courageous critic of the healthcare industry.
X/Comrade Sisko
Other trolls against LePatner had the words CEO DOWN, openly mocking the demise of this Blackstone executive, who was a mother of two. She was rushing to her office when she was attacked with an M4 carbine.
“We cannot properly express the grief we feel upon the sudden and tragic loss of Wesley. She was the most loving wife, mother, daughter, sister, and relative, who enriched our lives in every way imaginable”, her family said in a statement on Tuesday (July 29).
LePatner was the CEO and a senior managing director of Blackstone’s Real Estate Income Trust. The firm released a statement about the loss of a valuable employee, which read as follows:
LePatner, 46, was one of the four victims of the shooting spree in the office tower on Monday. The other victims were security guard Aland Etienne, Management employee Julia Hyman, and NYPD police officer Didarul Islam. Shane Tamura, 27, finally turned the gun towards himself on the 33rd floor of the skyscraper.
