The legal defence fund for Luigi Mangione, the man accused of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, has reached $1 million in donations as of May 6.
According to a fundraiser on GiveSendGo, the December 4 Legal Committee raised a little over $1 million “in grassroots donations from over 28,000 individual contributions, with a median donation of $20.”
The organizers say that the funds will be used “towards expenses associated with all three pending criminal cases against Mr. Mangione.”
“Even in a worsening economy, everyday people facing financial hardships of their own continue to provide monetary support for Mr. Mangione. And even as the legal system becomes weaponized in the service of the billionaire class, people across the world continue to insist on the right to due process and to oppose the obvious cruelty of the regime’s attempt to kill him,” a press release on the fundraising page read.
“Support for Mr. Mangione continues to unite social movements against oligarchic control of both the legal and healthcare systems,” it continued.
Organizers added that “surpassing the one million dollar benchmark represents a step forward in pursuing justice for Mr. Mangione.”
“It also shows how the fund has become one of the few uncensored public forums for people in America to share their grievances with our lethal for-profit healthcare system and the indefensible economic and political order that has imposed it upon us,” Sam Beard, a spokesperson for the December 4 Legal Committee, said in a statement.
In March, the fundraiser received its largest donation so far from a mystery donor who donated $36,500.
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“What intrigues me about this case is how unified folks’ responses are regardless of strata. In Corporate America, for instance, there has been widespread doubt of potential prosecutorial mishandling and overcharging,” the donor wrote alongside their donation.
“I’ve also been surprised at the almost ubiquitous nature of support towards the suspect that I would expect to be quite bifurcated in this type of litigation. Quite exceptional.”
A screenshot from the GiveSendGo crowdfunder, titled Luigi Mangione Official Defense Fund.
GiveSendGo / Luigi Mangione Official Defense Fund
The donation topped the previous record of $30,000 from another anonymous giver, who said they “never needed to worry about affording med care.”
The December 4 Legal Committee plans to continue raising funds for Mangione’s legal defence for the duration of the trial. Organizer have now raised the goal from $1 million to $1.5 million after reaching their previous goal.
In February, the group said it had made contact with Mangione’s legal team, including Karen Friedman Agnifilo, “who will be accepting” the donations from the fundraiser.
“Karen stated that Luigi ‘very much appreciates the outpouring of support.’ We feel honored to provide supporters with a reliable way to continue contributing to his legal fees through any future donations,” the group shared.
The post went on to note that the two-month anniversary of Mangione’s arrest had passed and the participants are “thrilled that the money raised by this campaign will go toward building the strongest possible defense” against Mangione’s charges, which they refer to as “insulting.”
In December 2024, Mangione, 27, pleaded not guilty to murder and terror charges. The Manhattan district attorney formally charged Mangione earlier in December with multiple counts of murder, including murder as an act of terrorism, in a state case that will run parallel to his federal prosecution.
Federal prosecutors pre-empted Mangione’s initial appearance in New York’s state trial court, bringing their own charges over the shooting. The federal charges could carry the possibility of the death penalty, while the maximum sentence for the state charges is life in prison without parole.
Prosecutors have said the two cases will proceed on parallel tracks, with the state charges expected to go to trial first.
Authorities allege Mangione gunned down Thompson as he was walking to an investor conference in midtown Manhattan on the morning of Dec. 4, 2024.
Mangione was arrested in a Pennsylvania McDonald’s after a five-day search, carrying a gun that matched the one used in the shooting and a fake ID, police said. He also was carrying a notebook expressing hostility toward the health insurance industry and especially wealthy executives, according to federal prosecutors.
Mangione has attracted a cult following as a stand-in for frustrations over coverage denials and hefty medical bills. A poll taken in the wake of the shooting showed most Americans believe health insurance profits and coverage denials share blame.
— With files from The Associated Press
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