Luigi Mangione’s fans are expressing outrage online that the alleged killer faces the death penalty after being arraigned in Manhattan on federal charges.
The alleged killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was charged Thursday with federal crimes including murder, stalking and weapons violations, escalating the case following his indictment on state charges.
Although the death penalty has been banned in New York for decades, the federal charges against 26-year-old Mangione could mean he is sent to death row, although prosecutors have not said whether they will seek the death penalty in the case.
News that Mangione faces the death penalty has only increased fascination with the alleged killer, with people posting fan art depicting him as a religious figure. One of these images was even placed near the scene of Thompson’s murder.
Many online argue that Mangione faces a harsher sentence than hardened criminals and school shooters, and speculate that the government wants to make an example of him and prevent some kind of uprising against corporate America.
One X-post read: ‘They want to give Luigi Mangione the death penalty. That’s the only reason they’re letting him face federal charges.
“They literally want to kill him for daring to threaten capitalism and corporate greed. They don’t even do that with school shooters.’
Another X user added, “Very few school shooters have received the death penalty. Yet the US is trying to indict Luigi Mangione so that he gets the death penalty for killing one man. You can kill dozens of children and get a lesser sentence because their lives don’t matter as much as a CEO’s. That’s America.’
Fans of Luigi Mangione have expressed outrage online that he could face the death penalty. He will be seen in Manhattan on Thursday
Some point out that the government’s handling of Mangione, including a perpetrator straight out of a Hollywood movie, only increases the public’s fixation on him.
One are they actively trying to make him a martyr? Whether you’re for him or against him, they make it SO easy for anyone to idolize him.”
Another The government is setting itself up for its own downfall.”
A reply to that tweet read: ‘Totally agree, literally preparing themselves to have a martyr for the cause…didn’t they ever watch Hunger Games?! he is our mockingjay.”
On Thursday, Mangione was taken from Pennsylvania to New York by private plane after waiving extradition during a hearing in Pennsylvania. Mangione was then transferred to a helicopter and flown to downtown Manhattan to face murder charges. He has since been taken into custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
The newly unveiled federal indictment against Mangione includes more details about the notes police say they found in his notebook when he was arrested last week — including his desire to “hit” the CEO of an insurance company.
Prosecutors say Mangione wrote repeatedly about his disdain for the health insurance industry and its executives. In an August 15 post, Mangione reportedly wrote how “the details are finally coming together” and that “the goal is insurance” because “it checks every box.”
The NYPD made a huge show of force when Mangione landed on a Manhattan helipad
On October 22, Mangione allegedly wrote: ‘1.5 months. This investor conference is a real windfall… and – most importantly – the message becomes self-evident.” In the same message, Mangione describes his intention to ‘move’ the CEO of an insurance company.
Mangione appeared in court in Manhattan wearing street clothes: a white button-down shirt, a navy blue three-quarter-zip sweater and khaki pants. He had no cuffs on his hand, but he did have cuffs on his ankles.
He was met on a helipad in downtown New York by dozens of armed NYPD officers, as well as Mayor Eric Adams and Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch.
Earlier Thursday, fans carrying banners flocked to Pennsylvania to see the alleged killer, whose good looks have made him a pin-up for some Internet users, leaving many others outraged by Mangione’s alleged crimes.
At least two of them were dressed as Luigi from the video game Super Mario Bros.
Several TikTok users shared on the platform that they had driven as much as six hours to attend the hearing.
Some reportedly even flew from California to support the alleged killer.
Mangione, center, sits in court reading the federal complaint while wearing orange slip-on shoes and his ankles shackled in Manhattan federal court
Mangione is accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson at point-blank range on December 5
Protesters showed up outside a courthouse in Pennsylvania on Thursday to support Mangione
The alleged killer waived a preliminary hearing on the forgery and weapons charges in Pennsylvania in exchange for the prosecutor giving him a 20-page investigative report from the Altoona Police Department. Mangione also agreed to be extradited to New York.
Earlier this week, he was indicted on charges of murder as an act of terrorism, under a New York state law that allows harsher penalties when a killing is aimed at frightening citizens or influencing government.
Mangione, of Towson, Maryland, was arrested on December 9 when police were called to a McDonald’s restaurant on a strip mall in Altoona, Pennsylvania, after it was reported that he matched the description of Thompson’s killer.
Thompson was shot in the street as he walked to the hotel where his Minnesota-based company was holding an investor conference.
The shooting was captured on security video, but the suspect evaded police before Mangione was captured about 447 miles west of New York.
Authorities say Mangione had the gun that killed Thompson, a passport, a fake ID and about $10,000 in U.S. and foreign currency.