Over the past week, the Altoona area has become a target for people throughout the country who are unhappy that the alleged killer of a health insurance CEO in Manhattan Dec. 4 was identified and arrested here.

Much of the opprobrium since that Dec. 9 arrest has centered on the not-publicly identified McDonald’s customer who recognized Luigi Mangione while he ate, then notified an also-unidentified employee, who called 911.

Critical postings have referenced “narcs” and “rats,” reflecting the folk hero status that many have conferred on Mangione for the damage he inflicted on a widely despised industry.

“It’s very unfortunate,” Altoona City Councilman and retired law enforcement official Dave Ellis said of the anger against this area. “The real bottom line to this whole thing is that Altoona is a law-and-order community, and if you come into Altoona to commit crimes, you’ll be arrested and prosecuted — no matter who the person is or what they have done.”

The Altoona area is unusual for the willingness of residents to cooperate with police and one another “to keep the community safe,” said Ellis, who worked all across Pennsylvania as a member of the state Attorney General’s office.

“When they see something, people here say something,” Ellis said.

“A culture of lawlessness” has infected the nation at large, according to Ellis. “(But) that kind of thing is not tolerated here,” he said.

The arrest occurred because “a couple of citizens were paying attention,” said City Councilman Jesse Ickes.

That, in itself, may not say “anything overwhelming” about the city, but is nonetheless “pretty impressive,” Ickes said.

It was followed up by good work from the Altoona police officers who made the arrest, Ickes said.

Anyone “ignorant enough” to slam the city for the arrest having taken place here “doesn’t even deserve the attention they’re seeking,” Ickes stated.

“We’re all frustrated with insurance plans,” said Gary Watters, executive director of AMED, the ambulance authority. “But you can’t bring vigilante justice.”

Credit is due to those who worked together to bring about lawful justice in this case, he said.

That includes the customer who, remarkably, recognized Mangione at the restaurant, the dispatcher who took the call and who “didn’t blow it off,” and the two officers who “took the call seriously,” he said.

The customer who recognized Mangione and alerted the employee did exactly the right thing, according to state Rep. Lou Schmitt, R-Altoona.

Condemning that action and what followed is “ridiculous,” Schmitt said.

In some places, some witnesses feel too intimidated to make such reports to the authorities, Schmitt said.

That can occur both in big cities and in rural areas, he said.

At the extreme, for example, in some places in Mexico dominated by cartels, “you see 20 or 25 headless bodies hanging off a bridge abutment,” Schmitt said.

When intimidation reigns, criminals “remain at large,” he said.

The criticism leveled at Altoona for the customer, the employee and the police doing what ought to be done is “distasteful,” said Marianne Sinisi, an activist against social stigma directed to those afflicted with substance use disorder.

Sinisi regards shooting victim Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare, as being stigmatized — much like the people on whose behalf she advocates.

Critics say people in the throes of addiction “asked for it,” and people are saying similar things about Thompson, according to Sinisi.

“(But) if we all turn to murder, what do we have left?” she asked rhetorically. “The new norm is anger and hatred in our country, and that is heartbreaking.”

The health insurance system may be frustrating, but “to make someone accused of murder a saint is not a good way to fix it,” said Doug Brown, Antis Township manager.

Humor or cheap shot?

In addition to being lambasted on social media for its role in the arrest of Mangione, the Altoona area also was the target of late night TV comics — including Jimmy Kimmel, who poked fun at local lawyer Thomas Dickey, who is representing Mangione on local gun and false identification charges.

Schmitt didn’t appreciate Kimmel’s humor.

Some people may say, “‘It’s just comedy,'” and “‘It’s all in fun,’ but I don’t think it’s funny,” Schmitt said, an Altoona native and lawyer.

The segment consisted of bits designed to make Dickey “look like he was a hick,” and his office exterior to look charmless and unattractive, Schmitt said.

Dickey is actually a fine attorney, according to Schmitt.

“I’ll stick Tom Dickey up against any big-city lawyer in Los Angeles or New York when it comes to defending anybody in criminal court,” he said.

“I think what Kimmel was doing is just part of his usual routine of taking cheap shots at those who he thinks are inferior to him,” wrote local attorney Dan Stants, who called Dickey “a reasonable guy and a good lawyer.”

Ickes said he can appreciate why people are upset about Kimmel’s segment on Dickey.

“But I couldn’t care less what Jimmy Kimmel thinks of Altoona,” Ickes said.

Brown can see why it might offend, but he can also see the humor.

“It bothers me when an entire region is made fun of, based on one person thrust into the spotlight unprepared,” Brown said.

“On the flip side, I think we can all look at that and chuckle,” he said. “We should be able to laugh at ourselves and take a joke.”

The segment “struck a nerve” with some, but too often people take offense at things that are simply “designed to make people laugh,” Brown said.

Much of the national coverage, especially at first, seemed to suggest that Altoona was “a little hick town,” said Ken Dean, retired Blair County mental health program specialist and now temporary chairman of the Blair County Prison Re-entry Coalition.

It seemed that the people delivering the news about the arrest “were kind of looking down their noses” at the local area, Dean said.

The impression he got was reinforced by messages from his daughter in Cincinnati and his son in Chicago.

“We’re infamous,” Dean said ruefully.

At least Altoona is now “on the map,” said Patrick Fiore of Fiore, Fedeli, Snyder, Carothers, an accounting firm.

“We no longer have to say we’re between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh or

40 miles south of State College,” Fiore said.

Mark Ickes, executive director of Explore Altoona, the tourism marketing organization for Blair County, didn’t directly comment on how the area has been portrayed nationally in the aftermath of Mangione’s arrest.

Instead, he pushed his message about the county’s virtues: “the vast variety of classic, authentic fun … including history and heritage, performing and visual arts, outdoor recreation and family entertainment … (and) amusement parks and minor league baseball.”

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.