The people of the FreeLuigi sub-Reddit had a message for anyone attending the status conference on Friday in the murder case against Luigi Mangione: “Please bring men.” Their hope was to dispel the media narrative from Mangione’s last court date that only young women were there to support the accused murderer and confirmed hunk who allegedly killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson late last year — the narrative being that “they just want to have sex with Luigi Mangione,” says Lindsy Floyd, a lead organizer outside the courthouse.
The call for guys went unheeded. In the bad light of the 15th-floor hallway at the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse, young women outnumbered young men roughly ten to one in a line that wrapped around the hall so many times that no one really knew where it began. The girls at the front, in respectable Gen-Z business-casual fits, were rumored to have gotten to the courthouse at 3 a.m. to secure their spot in the gallery. Some in the crowd, who traveled from as far as Oregon, said they were there to see a moment of history. Others said they were there for the spectacle. “As a lesbian, I am here to read the room,” one person said.
Many were clearly Mangione stans. One woman in a pink T-shirt that read “Mind Your Own Uterus” watched a livestream of the events on her phone outside the courthouse. When she returned to her home screen, the apps had been pushed to the corner of the screen so she could properly see her background: Mangione, in a red sweater, surrounded by pink hearts.
“We should all sing Charli XCX when he gets here,” a young woman said. As the 2:15 p.m. start time loomed, people worried how long they would have to wait for a glimpse of Mangione. “I went to a Lizzo concert, and she was an hour late,” a young man said. People discussed the evidence in the case, like why Mangione allegedly left Monopoly money in a backpack in Central Park. There was a liberal use of air quotes when the word “murder” floated around.
Eventually, Mangione’s attorney Karen Agnifilo walked through the hallway to a huge roar. She smiled in acknowledgment as the police in the courtroom began yelling about decorum. Soon after, the hammer came down: Almost no one in the hallway was getting into the courtroom. A couple dozen of the earliest birds are allowed in, three of whom are men. At least two girls who thought they had a decent shot of getting into the courtroom began to cry.
Those who made it in were able to see Mangione shuffle in wearing khakis and a green sweater under a bulletproof vest. His wrist and ankle cuffs remained on during the hearing, after a request to remove the shackles was denied by the judge. Prosecutors listed the evidence they had turned over to the defense, including body-cam footage, surveillance video, and autopsy reports. Agnifilo — who did not match her client’s outfit this time — shared her concerns about how law-enforcement officers obtained the alleged ghost gun found on Mangione when he was arrested in December, suggesting that the issue will come up during the trial. The judge presiding over the case did not set a trial date.
The mundane nature of the hearing shows just how much attention still remains on Mangione, the 26-year-old from a wealthy Maryland family whose combination of good looks, Nintendo-Italian name, and alleged beliefs on the immoral nature of for-profit health care garnered the support of many young Americans. (Mangione has pleaded not guilty to all charges he is facing in state and federal courts, including murder as an act of terrorism.) His website, launched by his defense team this week, shows that he has raised over $500,000 for his legal defense. The site also notes he is receiving so many photos that he “kindly asks” that fans send no more than five at a time. Online, his supporters are selling hats, stickers, and copies of his wanted poster. On Friday morning, a truck empaneled with LED screens circled the blocks around the courthouse with a portrait of Mangione as a saint; it was there to promote a meme coin ($LUIGI) that intends to pay down people’s medical bills.
In the hallway, the police officers encouraged everyone to get into the slow elevators down to the ground floor. Inside the first elevator down is a short woman in a three-piece suit who has been here since 8:30 a.m. It is Chelsea Manning, the whistleblower imprisoned under Obama for intelligence leaks. “I am here to exercise my Sixth Amendment rights,” she said when I asked what she thought of Mangione. When I asked how she felt about not getting in, she said, “It’s whatever,” then went in search of a bathroom.
Outside, the messaging is more focused. Dozens of protesters are holding signs in support of both Mangione (“Free Luigi”) and humane health-care access (“For Profit Healthcare is Murder”). Floyd, 40, the organizer, became a prison-reform advocate after serving 26 months for negligent homicide while driving drunk. She sent a letter to Mangione about how to handle the “jarring” adjustment to jail. Standing in the cold on Friday, she said she wants to reframe the conversation about Mangione away from the fangirls and toward equitable access to health care. “How do we reprioritize the value of a human?” she asks.
A block away from the courthouse, someone has wheatpasted a poster that also questions the value of a human. It is a wanted poster of Brian Thompson with a red X through his face.
