Luigi Mangione, the man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in December, has accepted nearly $300,000 from thousands of individual donations for his criminal defense, Fox News reported on Monday.
Mangione, 26, pled not guilty to charges of murder and terrorism in New York and also faces federal murder charges, which make him eligible for the death penalty. The Ivy League grad is accused of gunning down Thompson from behind in Midtown Manhattan on December 4 as the CEO was on his way to a company conference at the Hilton hotel. Mangione has been turned into a folk hero for some people on the Left who view the alleged assassin’s actions as retribution for health care companies.
Mangione’s lead defense attorney, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, said that the “outpouring of support” and donations to her client is appreciated, adding that Mangione “plans on utilizing it to fight all three of the unprecedented cases against him.”
The fundraiser, organized by the December 4 Legal Committee and set up on GiveSendGo, raised over $295,000, according to the New York Post.
“We are thrilled that the money raised by this campaign will go toward building the strongest possible defense against these insulting charges,” the organizers wrote. “We remain committed to a world where our survival and wellbeing are no longer sacrificed for another’s wealth.”
The donations were celebrated by Jamie Peck and Sam Beard, who speak on behalf of the fund and also host the podcast “Party Girls,” which focuses on “communism and gossip.”
“Luigi has seen a literally unprecedented wave of support from tens of millions of hard-working Americans,” Beard said in a video. “All of this has sort of re-jumpstarted a longstanding conversation in this country about how the cruel and unusual for-profit health care system in America is rotten to its very core.”
December 4 Legal Committee hopes to raise $500,000 as the fundraiser will continue throughout Mangione’s trial. Mangione’s next appearance in state court is scheduled for February 21.
Thompson, a husband and father of two children, was killed by a masked assassin who was caught on video firing multiple shots into the UnitedHealthcare CEO before fleeing the scene. Mangione was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania, five days after the murder.
After arresting Mangione in Pennsylvania, authorities recovered a notebook allegedly belonging to him that includes a passage where the writer mentions taking out “the CEO at the annual parasitic bean-counter convention.” Mangione also allegedly had a manifesto on him that accused UnitedHealthcare of prioritizing profit over patients.
