In one particularly testy exchange on a conspiracy theory subreddit, two stylists clashed over Mangione’s eyebrows.
“I was a stylist for 20 years ago, no one’s eyebrows grow that fast in three days,” wrote one user. “I was on the state board test. The hair on your head grows a quarter of an inch a month. Your eyebrow hair grows more slowly.”
“I’m also a stylist and I work with models,” another user responded. “Different lighting and different facial expressions cause different shadows in photographs. This man is trying to start a revolution. “Do not make a conspiracy of someone who is in favor of the people.”
However, this is just one of the conspiracy theories circulating about Mangione. Another popular theory relates to the number 286 and its multiple links to the alleged shooter.
In his X profile, Mangione features the Pokémon Breloom, which is Pokémon number 286. Mangione had also posted exactly 286 times on X when he was arrested. 286 is also the code Health insurance companies use when “when appeal deadlines for a health care claim are not met.”
Other TikTok users pointed out a possible link to the Bible, with Proverbs 28:6 saying, “Better is a poor man who walks in integrity than a rich man whose path is crooked.”
Finally, some people online claimed that the distance between the shooting site and the McDonald’s where Mangione was seen is 286 miles. However, according to Google Mapsthe distance is actually 279 miles.
Whatever the distance between this McDonald’s and Manhattan, the location of this McDonald’s has sparked some conspiracy theories, as seen in the work of a Reddit poster who took the time to document the numerous links between the board game Monopoly and the shooting.
First, they noted that the backpack found in Central Park by police contained gambling money. They also noted that Altoona is the home of the Pennsylvania Railroad, one of the four railroads for sale in the American Standard version of the game. Finally, the poster highlighted the fact that McDonald’s ran a promotional campaign with the game for decades, although it stopped briefly at the turn of the century after a massive fraud scandal involving, among dozens of others, a key informant and Gennaro “Jerry” Colombo, who claimed to be a member of the Colombo crime family.