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Plush toys of Luigi Mario, supporters wearing the video game character’s distinctive green, and pins boasting the face of alleged murderer Luigi Mangione were ubiquitous outside the New York criminal courthouse where the 26-year-old accused of gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson appeared for a pretrial hearing.
“We the people want Luigi free!” the crowd chanted outside the courthouse in downtown Manhattan. The chants could be heard from the 15th floor of the building, where Mangione appeared in leg and arm shackles and a bulletproof vest that covered a dark green sweater.
Demonstrators held up signs that read “Luigi before fascists” and “for-profit healthcare is murder.” Most tiptoed around directly saying they supported Mangione’s alleged actions, but made it clear they supported his legal fight and understood what drove him to allegedly gun down the healthcare executive on December 4.
“I think what happened was inevitable given the amount of tension” between Americans and the healthcare industry, one New Yorker said.
One person who traveled three hours from Maryland just to see the reaction to the hearing remarked on this tension: “Something’s gotta give and that something was Luigi Mangione …. he’s a go-getter.”
Another protester, who flew in from Chicago to show solidarity, said: “I think major changes are needed in insurance.” Thompson’s killing “brought a spotlight and a charge to take action against wrongdoing by corporate entities milking as much as they can from normal people.” She waited in line for seven hours to get inside the courtroom — but wasn’t successful.
Some were more explicit in their support for Mangione, the Ivy League graduate accused of 11 criminal counts in New York, including murder as an act of terrorism, in connection with the December 4 killing. He has pleaded not guilty to the state charges and faces a maximum of life in prison without parole if convicted.
“I’m doing this for Luigi — he needs to be acquitted. And I want to draw attention to the healthcare crisis,” said a protester who gave their name as Church and who was injured in a car accident two years ago but struggled to find a treatment that was covered by insurance. “We’re all one major illness away from bankruptcy and/or serious physical danger.”
Some people doled out stickers of Mangione depicted as Jesus Christ. Others held up signs that read “Luigi before fascists.” But many others were more cautious about explicitly supporting what Mangione allegedly did.
One Brooklynite refused to comment on whether she agreed with what Mangione is accused of doing, but added: “I don’t condone for people to be going out murdering people on the street but that CEO was just as much of a murderer as the healthcare CEO killer is,” referring to health care companies’ policies and claim denial rates.
Thompson was not accused of any crime – in fact, among the tributes to the father-of-two, he was hailed for “his impactful presence and genuine care for people” and as “a charismatic and intelligent leader” whose “kindness, quick wit and deep loyalty that truly earned the respect and admiration of his colleagues.”
“I’d say that’s a super touchy topic,” Malcolm, from upstate New York, said. “I don’t condone violence but I do back the message that he [allegedly] gave.”
Inside the courtroom, Karen Friedman Agnifilo raised a number of concerns regarding her client, including that he is being “treated differently than other defendants” by being held in federal custody rather than state custody despite the state case coming first. Judge Gregory Carro told her he has “no problem remanding him here.”
New York prosecutors indicted Mangione but federal prosecutors are holding him on a complaint.
At the federal level, Mangione faces murder and stalking charges while in Pennsylvania, he faces firearm-related violations and other counts. He has yet to make pleas in those venues.
She also argued that his defense team hasn’t received the “ bulk of the discovery.” She told Judge Carro: “By defending ourselves in state court, we are potentially providing fodder for the federal case and vice versa. It’s critical we receive everything, especially the police work that was done there.” She noted that federal prosecutors are still deciding whether they will seek the death penalty.
The attorney also took aim at Mayor Eric Adams and other New York officials, claiming they appeared in a documentary before they shared some details with her team. She added: “We have never been provided copies of the journal, which is being called a manifesto.”
Agnifilo also raised concerns about Magnione’s arrest in Altoona, Pennsylvania. “We think our client’s constitutional rights were violated in Pennsylvania,” regarding search and seizure, she said.
The hearing comes one week after Mangione issued his first public statement since his arrest, remarking on the outpouring of support he’s received: “I am overwhelmed by – and grateful for – everyone who has written me to share their stories and express their support. Powerfully, this support has transcended political, racial, and even class divisions, as mail has flooded MDC from across the country, and around the globe.”
Earlier this month, his attorney issued a statement announcing his defense team would be accepting the mounds of donations that have poured in to a GiveSendGo fundraiser launched by the December 4 Legal Committee. Agnifilo said on February 4: “Luigi is aware of the fund and very much appreciates the outpouring of support. My client plans on utilizing it to fight all three of the unprecedented cases against him.” As of Friday morning, the fundraiser has garnered more than $500,000.
The support for Mangione’s defense isn’t all too surprising given the wide range of reactions in the wake of the December 4 killing. The insurance executive’s death sparked a nationwide conversation about the state of healthcare in the U.S. While some denounced the brutal act, some celebrated the 50-year-old’s murder, writing folk songs about the incident, sending Mangione fan mail, and selling “Free Luigi” merchandise.
The incident drew national attention almost instantly as Thompson’s murder suspect evaded police for days. Authorities released photo after photo of the suspect, asking the public to help locate him and mapping out his suspected whereabouts in the process.
For days, police searched Central Park for any clues as he was believed to have fled the Midtown murder scene, biked from the east side of the park to the west, then caught a cab to a bus terminal uptown, where he left the city. A McDonald’s employee in Altoona, Pennsylvania recognized Mangione — sitting in the fast food joint eating hash browns — from the circulated photos, and tipped off police. The 26-year-old was arrested on December 9. The next day, he appeared at the Blair County Courthouse for an extradition hearing, where he yelled: “It’s completely out of touch and an insult to the intelligence of the American people and their lived experience.”
He was then taken to New York on December 19 after waiving his right to an extradition hearing over murder charges in the state. At his December 23 arraignment in New York, his attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo, referring to federal charges against her client, told the court the “warring jurisdictions” had turned Mangione into a “human ping-pong ball.”
He is being held at a federal detention facility in Brooklyn as he awaits trial.