A fundraiser for Luigi Mangione, the man who shot the UnitedHealthcare CEO in December, has raised nearly $500,000, according to the fundraising website GiveSendGo.
The money — more than $452,000 and still rising on Feb. 16 — will go to his legal team, according to a site the team put up, and to GiveSendGo.
Mangione is charged in New York with first-degree murder in furtherance of terrorism and other counts in the killing of Brian Thompson, the UnitedHealthcare chief executive, on Dec. 4 on a street in Manhattan. The killing and the subsequent manhunt brought forth a flood of condemnations of the healthcare system, and sympathy for Mangione as a person who said the evils of the healthcare system motivated him to kill. The shooting also brought widespread condemnation of Mangione’s actions.
The site, Luigimantioneinfo.com, says it was set up by his legal team. “Due to the extraordinary volume of inquiries and outpouring of support,” the site was created with a goal of providing “answers to frequently asked questions, accurate information about his cases, and dispel misinformation. The intent is to share factual information regarding the unprecedented, multiple prosecutions against him.”
The site also includes a statement from Mangione, who is being held in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, his lawyers wrote.
The statement says: “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. While it is impossible for me to reply to most letters, please know that I read every one that I receive. Thank you again to everyone who took the time to write. I look forward to hearing more in the future.” -Luigi Mangione”
Mangione is represented in New York by Karen Friedman Agnifilo, Marc Agnifilo, and Jacob Kaplan from Agnifilo Intrater. Learned counsel Avi Moskowitz of Moskowitz Colson Ginsberg Schulman has been appointed on the federal case, because at least one of the charges carries capital punishment as a potential sentence. Mangione is also represented by Thomas Dickey of Tom Dickey Law Offices in Pennsylvania.
