Inside the Contentious World of Luigi Mangione Supporters

Last February, Emily Whittemore stepped onto the stage at Los Angeles’ Jumbo’s Clown Room in a pair of eight-inch Pleaser heels, a black string bikini, and an extra-large T-shirt with the face of Luigi Mangione printed across it.

She writhed and wiggled on the iconic strip bar’s floor to System of a Down’s “Prison Song” as onlookers cheered, and eventually lifted the shirt up to her head and wrapped Mangione’s mug shot around her face. “I was like, ‘Ya’ll don’t even need to look at me, just pretend I’m him,’” Whittemore recalls.

Then she ripped the shirt off, threw it on the ground, and sat down, “pretending to ride” it, she says. The audience of mostly women went wild, chanting “free Luigi” while Whittemore scooped up wads of cash. Even after her performance, Whittemore kept the Mangio