Latest news with #Glock-style
New York Post
29-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
Miranda Devine: The left's assassination fixation only further normalizes political violence
The left's assassination obsession is escalating alarmingly and is being tacitly endorsed in all the wrong places. Some, like Elon Musk, believe it may be orchestrated. How else do you explain why lefty tech publication Wired has published a story and helpful YouTube video describing how to build a copycat replica of the ghost gun allegedly used by Luigi Mangione to murder UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson last December? The senior writer, Andy Greenberg, who covers hacking, cybersecurity and surveillance for Wired, boasts he used a 3D printer to create an 'exact clone' of Mangione's Glock-style handgun, 'down to the stippling on the weapon's plastic grip.' YouTube let the video rip despite a policy strictly prohibiting content showing how to make firearms, ammunition or gun accessories. A week after Israeli DC Embassy employees Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim were assassinated by an unhinged leftist in Washington, DC, the Condé Nast magazine's do-it-yourself gun video is still up on YouTube. Don't tell us this is an oversight by YouTube when it regularly cracks down on gun enthusiasts for far less explicit content. After two assassination attempts on Donald Trump during the 2024 election campaign; when Mangione became a cult heartthrob; Musk had to travel with up to 20 armed bodyguards; and even former FBI Director James Comey flirts with assassination memes, we can see where this is heading. Popular culture, social media and political and media figures on the left have reacted to their political marginalization since Trump's election by fantasizing out loud about assassination or making coded references to their dark desires. If you can't rub out Trump yourself, then you can make your feelings plain in oblique fashion by fetishizing Mangione as a sex symbol. It's not as if he is intrinsically more attractive than any other 27-year-old Ivy League brat, or that the evil deed was brave or imaginative. He allegedly shot Thompson in the back as the 50-year-old Minnesota father of two teenage boys was walking down Sixth Avenue to an investor meeting in the early morning of Dec. 4. But the lionization of Mangione, especially by lustful women, casts the violence as desirable, an aphrodisiac that other unhinged young men might want to emulate. Left-wing journalist Taylor Lorenz, formerly of The Washington Post and The New York Times, personified the Luigi fangirl last month when she gushed that the accused killer seemed 'morally good' and 'handsome.' 'A revolutionary' 'So you're going to see women especially that feel like, 'Oh, my God, here's this man who's a revolutionary, who's famous, who's handsome, who's young, who's smart, he's a person who seems he's like this morally good man, which is hard to find,' ' 40-something Lorenz told CNN. Besotted women bombard Mangione in jail with love letters and photos of themselves, so many that he had to post a message on his donation website asking his groupies to 'send no more than five photos at a time.' At Mangione's various court appearances, swooning supporters wear 'Free Luigi' shirts and caps worn by the Luigi character from Super Mario Bros. A GiveSendGo fundraiser for Mangione has gathered more than $1 million in donations from almost 30,000 disciples. There are Mangione fan accounts on Instagram. An online store sells merchandise featuring Mangione's mug shot on T-shirts and keychains with the slogan 'Free Luigi' or the words that Mangione allegedly etched on bullet casings found at the crime scene: 'Deny, Defend, Depose.' Women are getting tattoos of three bullets engraved with those words. Stand-up comic Bill Burr frequently says 'Free Luigi' when a camera is on him, including on ABC's 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' Kimmel dubbed Mangione 'Time's sexiest alleged murderer of the year' and 'the hottest cold-blooded killer in America.' A professor of bioethics at Saint Louis University, Yolonda Wilson, tweeted soon after Thompson's murder that she was 'not sad' about it because the company he worked for is 'evil . . . chickens come home to roost.' Democrat lawmakers Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Elizabeth Warren have defended the lionization of Mangione for his cold-blooded murder. 'Violence is never the answer,' said Warren, 'but people can be pushed only so far.' You might call all this assassination chic a harmless fad, but it is more sinister than that. It is a psychological conditioning of the public to normalize political violence. An Emerson College poll after the murder found that 41% of voters aged 18-29 thought the murder of Thompson was acceptable, while another 24% said it was 'somewhat' acceptable. The suspect in the murders of Lischinsky and Milgrim outside the Capital Jewish Museum, Elias Rodriguez, a socialist anti-Israel activist, openly praised Mangione on his X account: '80% of the country applauds the targeted annihilation of a healthcare insurance exec.' A man arrested outside the Capitol in January for allegedly plotting to kill officials in the Trump administration told prosecutors he was inspired by Mangione. Rutgers University's Network Contagion Research Institute has warned of 'a structured endorsement of political violence targeting figures like Donald Trump and Elon Musk. These attitudes are not fringe — they reflect an emergent assassination culture, grounded in far-left authoritarianism and increasingly normalized in digital discourse.' In a report last month, 'Assassination Culture: How Burning Teslas and Killing Billionaires Became a Meme Aesthetic for Political Violence,' the institute found 'disturbingly high levels of support for political violence, particularly targeting President Donald Trump and Elon Musk.' The report says this 'assassination culture' has migrated from social media into mainstream discourse. 'Somewhat justified' It found that 38% of Americans — and 55% of those identifying as left of center — said assassinating President Trump would be 'at least somewhat justified'; 31% (and 48% of those left of center), said the same about Musk. Some 40% of respondents (and 58% of those left of center) believed it was at least somewhat acceptable to 'destroy a Tesla dealership.' Musk is well aware of the threat, recently voicing fear of assassination because he is the world's richest CEO and also because of his work uncovering corruption in the federal government. 'They're making it sound like if you kill me, you're a hero. What they're doing is evil,' he told the Joe Rogan Experience podcast in February. He brought up the assassination attempt against Trump in Butler, Pa., surmising that unknown forces or the hive mind might have guided the 20-year-old shooter. 'For that assassin, it's kind of like that funny-looking sport, curling, you know, where they have the stone on the ice and then they throw the stone and then there's someone that's like brushing the ice, but you can't touch the stone. 'All you can do is just change the path of the stone a little bit, but you keep brushing the ice and you can steer that stone right into the bull's-eye. That's what I think happened in Butler with that assassin. Somebody was brushing the ice.' It's a good analogy. That's what all these coy Mangione references are for. They're just 'brushing the ice.'
NZ Herald
22-05-2025
- NZ Herald
Chilling CCTV footage of moment John Versace gunned down at Condell Park home in Sydney
Police believe Versace was hit at least four times. The gunman returns to the silver Toyota, which leaves the scene quickly. Emergency services were called to the home, but could not revive Versace. His devastated family could be heard screaming as police set up a crime scene. A short time later, police were called to Blackford St in Fairfield East after reports that a car 'very similar' to the one used in the attack had been torched. The car was 'well alight' by the time emergency crews arrived. The flames were soon put out, and police found a small 'Glock-style' gun in the vehicle. Neither Versace nor his family were known to police, Superintendent Rodney Hart told reporters earlier this week. A taskforce had been set up to investigate the incident further. Police believe Versace was a plumber who was possibly working in his father's business. They do not believe he had links to organised crime, despite the nature of the attack. They are investigating whether the shooting was a case of mistaken identity. 'We believe that this has the hallmarks of a targeted execution – very brutal, very distressing,' Hart said. 'So, I want to reassure the community that we are treating this not as a random attack, but what I will ask from our community here is – please, anybody that has any information to assist the investigators to please call Bankstown police station or Crime Stoppers.' Versace's sister Deanna paid tribute to her 'beautiful baby brother' on Tuesday. 'John, no words can describe the pain we are all feeling and will continue to feel for the rest of our lives,' she wrote on social media. 'You were the world's greatest brother, son, grandson, cousin, and friend. 'We are so lucky and blessed to have had the time we had with you but your life was cut too short. 'This world wasn't good enough for you. Life will never be the same.'
Perth Now
21-05-2025
- Perth Now
Chilling CCTV of young tradie's ‘execution'
Chilling CCTV footage has emerged of the moment a young tradie was gunned down in the driveway of his family home in Sydney's southwest in what police have called a 'brutal execution'. The footage shows the moment John Versace was ambushed in the driveway of his home on Dalton Ave in Condell Park, where he lived with his parents and two sisters, on Monday evening. CCTV shows horrifying moment John Versace gunned down in Sydney. Supplied Credit: Supplied A figure dressed in black can be seen exiting a silver Toyota SUV and quickly approaching Mr Versace, who was getting out his ute parked in front of his home. A man can be heard yelling 'Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey … stop, stop', before numerous gunshots ring out on the quiet suburban street. John Versace. supplied/Facebook Credit: Supplied Police believe Mr Versace was hit at least four times. The gunman returns to the silver Toyota, which quickly flees the scene. Emergency services were called to the home but they could not revive Mr Versace. Emergency services arrived at the home about 10.30pm on Monday, but they could not revive Mr Versace. Supplied Credit: Supplied His devastated family could be heard screaming and wailing as police established a crime scene. A short time later, police were called to Blackford St in Fairfield East after reports a car 'very similar' to the one used in the attack had been torched. The car was 'well alight' by the time emergency crews arrived. The flames were soon extinguished, but police were able to locate a small 'Glock-style' gun in the vehicle. CCTV shows horrifying moment John Versace gunned down in Sydney. Supplied Credit: Supplied 'What I can say in this very early stage is that the victim and the holdings that we have on the victim and his family is that he is not known to police,' Superintendent Rodney Hart told reporters this week. Superintendent Hart said a taskforce had been established to further investigate the incident. Police believe Mr Versace was a plumber and possibly working in his father's business, and do not believe he had links to organised crime despite the nature of the attack. An investigation is underway into the shooting on Dalton Ave in Condell Park. Rohan Kelly/ NewsWire Credit: News Corp Australia They are investigating whether the tragedy was a case of mistaken identity. 'We believe that this has the hallmarks of a targeted execution – very brutal, very distressing,' Superintendent Hart said. 'So, I want to reassure the community that we are treating this not as a random attack, but what I will ask from our community here is – please, anybody that has any information to assist the investigators to please call Bankstown Police Station or Crime Stoppers.' Dalton Ave in Condell Park, the suburban street where John Versace died after being shot in Sydney's southwest overnight. NewsWire / Monique Harmer Credit: News Corp Australia Mr Versace's sister Deanna Versace paid tribute to her 'beautiful baby brother' on Tuesday. 'John, no words can describe the pain we are all feeling and will continue to feel for the rest of our lives,' she wrote on social media. 'You were the world's greatest brother, son, grandson, cousin, and friend. 'We are so lucky and blessed to have had the time we had with you but your life was cut too short. 'This world wasn't good enough for you. Life will never be the same.'
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Yahoo
Cafeteria worker arrested for hiding evidence after her boyfriend kills teen who came to beat up her son, cops say
A Florida cafeteria worker has been arrested for hiding evidence after her boyfriend killed a teen who came to beat up her son, police say. Jessica Rivera, a 48-year-old food service employee at Whispering Oak Elementary in Orange County, was taken into custody at work. Police say she tampered with evidence, including while she was working at the elementary school, in their investigation into the shooting of Neiko Herrera, 19. Herrera and four other young men came to Rivera's home last month because one of them had arranged for a fist fight with her son. Cops say that the teens came to the home over an argument about a girl that they wanted to resolve in person. When the group pulled up in front of the home in a gated RV park near St. Cloud — which is about 25 miles south of Orlando — Rivera's boyfriend, Orvill Osorio-Ortiz, went outside and started shooting at the car, according to police. Herrera was killed in the shooting and another member of his group was injured in what police have called an ambush. Police say Osorio-Ortiz anticipated the meeting, arming himself with a Glock-style gun. Hererra's mother, Monique, told WESH 2 News, "I am so relieved that an arrest has been made in connection with my son's murder. While this doesn't ease the pain of losing him, it is a step toward justice. 'My son, Neiko Herrera was a visionary, a leader, and a young man full of purpose. He poured his heart into building his clothing line, Revenge Riches, with the message: 'The best revenge is success.'' Monique said the family will continue his legacy by sharing his story and growing his clothing brand. 'We want the world to know who he was — not just how he died, but how he lived,' she said. It is unclear what exactly Rivera is accused of doing to tamper with evidence. Meanwhile, Osorio-Ortiz faces a first-degree murder charge and four counts of attempted first-degree murder.
Daily Mail
20-05-2025
- Daily Mail
John Versace was a young plumber with no known links to organised crime. So why was he gunned down on his doorstep?
Detectives are piecing together how John Versace, a 23-year-old plumber and family man with no known criminal connections, came to be gunned down on his doorstep in Sydney 's south-west. On Tuesday, police described how at 10pm the previous night Mr Versace had returned to his home on Dalton Avenue, Condell Park, where he lived with his parents and adult sisters, only to be ambushed with a hail of bullets. CCTV from cameras attached to the home showed the gunman open fire with a Glock-style weapon - leaving Mr Versace with at least four gunshot wounds - before retreating to a hatchback Toyota Corolla and fleeing the scene, police said. Shortly afterwards, officers were called to a car on fire in Fairfield Heights, about 11 kilometres from Mr Versace's house. Once the flames were extinguished, a handgun was recovered from the car which police believe was the same one used to kill Mr Versace. The shooting had all the hallmarks of a targeted gang hit, Superintendent Rodney Hart told reporters on Tuesday, and yet Mr Versace had only a traffic offence to his name - no criminal past or known ties to organised crime. His family members did not have criminal records either, Mr Hart added. One line of enquiry is whether or not the shooting was a case of mistaken identity. The Versace family appeared to be orthodox Christians who had recently celebrated the lavish wedding of Mr Versace's sister, Bianca. They have lived in their large, two-storey home in Condell Park for more than a decade. John's social media account displayed both the Lebanese and Italian flags, suggesting mixed heritage. Police said he worked as a plumber for his father's business. Mr Versace's sister, Deanna Versace, issued an emotional tribute to her brother on Tuesday. 'John, no words can describe the pain we are all feeling and will continue to feel for the rest of our lives,' she wrote. 'You were the world's greatest brother, son, grandson, cousin and friend. We are so lucky and blessed to have had the time we had with you but your life was cut too short. 'You did not deserve this. You're at peace and with Jesus now. We love you so much John. Our angel forever. This world wasn't good enough for you. Life will never be the same.' Another of his sisters, Bianca, called Mr Versace 'our baby, our pride and joy, the most innocent boy in the world'. 'I have no words. This world did not deserve you. We're going to miss that smile that lit up every room, I love you so much my angel,' she wrote.
