New York City prosecutors are working on bringing murder charges against Luigi Mangione for the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Supporters of Mangione have started raising funds for his defense, with donations totaling tens of thousands of dollars. This has raised concerns among law enforcement officials, as they fear Mangione is being glorified as a martyr.
Various online defense funds have been set up for Mangione by anonymous individuals. One such fund on GiveSendGo has already collected more than $50,000 as of Thursday afternoon.
The defense fund on GiveSendGo was established for the 26-year-old Mangione by a group known as “The December 4th Legal Committee.” The group formed the fund following the alleged ambush and shooting of Thompson by Mangione in Midtown Manhattan, as Thompson was on his way to a shareholders conference at the New York Hilton hotel.
Luigi Mangione, 26, is being questioned in Altoona, Pa. as a person of interest in connection with the brazen Midtown Manhattan murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
ABC News
“We are not here to celebrate violence, but we do believe in the constitutional right to fair legal representation,” the anonymous group said in a statement.
The crowdfunding campaign prompted donations from more than 1,500 anonymous donors across the country, many of them leaving messages of support for Mangione, including one person who called themselves “A frustrated citizen” and thanked Mangione for “sparking the awareness and thought across this sleeping nation.”
The GiveSendGo fund for Mangione appeared to be briefly taken down before it was restored on Thursday. GiveSendGo did not immediately respond to ABC News’ requests for comment.
Other crowdfunding sites such as GoFundMe have also taken down campaigns soliciting donations for Mangione’s defense.
“GoFundMe’s Terms of Service prohibit fundraisers for the legal defense of violent crimes,” the crowdfunding website said in a statement. “The fundraisers have been removed from our platform and all donors have been refunded.”
Amazon and Etsy have removed from their websites merchandise featuring Mangione, including T-shirts and tote bags reading “Free Luigi” and the phrase “Deny, Defend, Depose,” words police said were etched in the shell casings discovered at the scene of Thompson’s homicide.
From left to right: Luigi Mangione and Brian Thompson.
PA Dept. of Corrections/UnitedHealth Group via AP
“Celebrating this conduct is abhorrent to me. It’s deeply disturbing,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg told ABC News senior investigative reporter Aaron Katersky in an interview Wednesday night. “And what I would say to members of the public, people who as you described are celebrating this and maybe contemplating other action, that we will be vigilant and we will hold people accountable. We are at the ready.”
Prosecutors at the Manhattan district attorney’s office have begun presenting evidence to a grand jury as they work to try to secure an indictment against Mangione, sources told ABC News on Thursday.
Mangione’s attorney, Thomas Dickey of Altoona, Pennsylvania, where Mangione was arrested Monday following a five-day manhunt, said his client is presumed innocent and will plead not guilty to any charges filed against him. Mangione is contesting extradition to New York.
Luigi Mangione is locked up in Pennsylvania at State Correctional Institution Huntingdon in a cell nearly identical to the one depicted in this photo provided to ABC News.
PA Dept of Corrections
Asked about people contributing to Mangione defense funds that have popped up, Dickey said, “People are entitled to their opinion and, like I said, if you’re an American and you believe in the American criminal justice system, you have to presume him to be innocent and none of us would want anything other than that if that were us in their shoes. So, I’m glad he had some support.”
But law enforcement officials have expressed concern that Mangione is being turned into a martyr. Someone this week pasted “wanted posters” outside the New York Stock Exchange naming other executives.
A bulletin released Wednesday by the Delaware Valley Intelligence Center, a multi-agency law enforcement intelligence-sharing network based in Philadelphia, included a photo of a banner hanging from an overpass reading, “Deny, Defend, Depose.”
The investigation into and search for the masked gunman who stalked and killed the head of UnitedHealthcare has moved into its third day on Friday.
“Many social media users have outright advocated for the continued killings of CEOs with some aiming to spread fear by posting ‘hit lists,'” the bulletin, obtained by ABC News, reads.
Meanwhile, New York Police Department investigators continue to build a murder case against Mangione, who is being held in Pennsylvania on charges stemming from his arrest there, including illegal possession of ghost gun and fraudulent identification. Mangione has pleaded not guilty to the charges in Pennsylvania.
On Wednesday, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said that the three shell casings recovered at the scene of Thompson’s shooting matched the gun found in Mangione possession when he was arrested. She also confirmed that Mangione’s fingerprints were recovered from a water bottle and the wrapper of a granola bar found near the crime scene.
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