Yesterday, ex-cult leader Charles Manson died at age 83. As it turns out, it’s an incredibly confusing event for the world, since Manson, in a way, was iconic — but, you know, he was also a serial killer.
If you don’t know much about Manson, here’s a quick recap: in the ’60s, Manson started the “Manson Family,” which began as a free love quasi-commune and quickly spiraled into a cult fueled by doomsday prophesies about an apocalyptic race war he called “Helter Skelter.” To fuel these prophesies and keep his “family” in tact, he orchestrated 9 violent murders, including that of actress Sharon Tate.
So yeah, Manson probably sounds pretty crazy, but like many serial killers, he’s managed to maintain a level of intrigue over the years. So it’s not too surprising that his death was met with mixed reactions from people all over the world.
Some people, for instance, were actually sad to hear of his passing.
https://twitter.com/DaftLimmy/status/932542418779504640
https://twitter.com/kaytayskrabak/status/932497749496315904
RIP Charles Manson he never did nothing to me
— adam22 (@adam22) November 20, 2017
Rip Charles Manson 🙏🏽 #respect for all the good and the bad lost ones 🙏🏽👼🏼
— Jenae Bryant (@JenaeBryant) November 20, 2017
… Which wasn’t necessarily well-received.
https://twitter.com/____PantheR/status/932619617041895425
https://twitter.com/MikeHeadasss/status/932603855883440129
When people tweet “RIP Charles Manson.” pic.twitter.com/iYVUW1wUcw
— Tim O'Brien (@TimOBrien) November 20, 2017
Yeah, I’m on Team WTF here. Though, to be fair, there was definitely some confusion between him and problematic rockstar Marilyn Manson.
https://twitter.com/WashingMachineO/status/932484615532630016
wow rip charles manson 💔😭 taken too soon 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻 pic.twitter.com/Y4R04dovPt
— lalo 🦇 (@negativecreeppp) November 20, 2017
Of course, a lot of people were actually happy to hear about Manson’s passing because, well, he was a murderer who was trying to start a race war and had an actual swastika tattooed to his head. Can you blame them?
Twitter: 'Cult leader and serial killer Charles Manson dead at 83'
Me: pic.twitter.com/hvKji2vjkK— Diane (@haikatte) November 20, 2017
GOODBYE CHARLES MANSON GO FUCK YOURSELF
— The Iron Sheik (@the_ironsheik) November 20, 2017
Some used his death as a chance to remember his victims, taking the focus away from the serial killer and instead on the innocent people who lost their lives because of him.
https://twitter.com/ShaunaRDeBono/status/932611296192692225
https://twitter.com/ChiBarb/status/932605945955352576
#RIP to the victims of Charles Manson. They are the people we should be remembering today. pic.twitter.com/f0XhJd4XbW
— Sandy Quadros Bowles (@SQBthatsme) November 20, 2017
Personally, I’m not going to mourn for Charles Manson, but I guess I do understand people’s strange fascination with him. He did a lot of terrible things, but just like a lot of people who do terrible things, there’s a veil of intrigue surrounding him. Dead or alive, we’re not going to forget him anytime soon.