New photos of the El Paso Walmart shooter, better known in meme circles as "Chudjak," began making the rounds online this week, leading some people to crack jokes about the inspiration behind the Billions Must Die meme having a glow-up.

Patrick Crusius, the inspiration behind the Chudjak meme, is responsible for one of the deadliest mass shootings in recent American history and is presently serving a lifetime sentence in federal prison. But to some people, he is only known by the crude line drawing meme created in his image.

On April 25th, 2025, Redditor /u/uncanealguinzaglio dropped a new federal mugshot of Crusius into the subreddit /r/masskillers, acquired via the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The post was quickly deleted, likely for violating Reddit’s TOS, but the image was already out there.

Two days later, on Sunday, X user @TruueDiscipline tweeted, "This is what chudjak looks like now… feel old yet?" alongside a solemn-looking Crusius sans glasses, with longer curly hair and some facial scruff.

The post subsequently exploded and went viral, racking up over 1.2 million views and 17,000 likes in just two days.

For those not in the know, the Chudjak meme was born out of 4chan's /pol/ board back in late 2019.

Chudjak is a Wojak-type drawing depicted with glasses, deep nasolabial folds and a frown.

He's often paired with cartoonishly evil mantras of doom, such as "The West has fallen. Billions must die." Over time, the "Billions Must Die" meme, in particular, became a shorthand for online extremist hysteria.

Several internet users failed to come to terms with a vaguely "hotter" Chudjak and responded in the expected deranged fashion.

For instance, Twitter / X user @Halsted_19 posted a meme showing women fawning over the "Chud" serving prison time.

Meanwhile, X user @hayasaka_aryan took it a step further, posting a side-by-side comparison of Crusius with the caption, "From chud to indie rock singer."

A day later, X user @Marcus_cel posted a panel of Cereal Guy spitting out his breakfast in shock over Crusius's new look.