Luigi Mangione, the man accused of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, has accepted nearly US$300,000 in donations from fans as he awaits trial.
According to a fundraiser on GiveSendGo, the December 4 Legal Committee has made contact with Mangione’s legal team, which accepted the US$297,000 (nearly C$425,176) raised at the time of contact to pay Mangione’s legal bills.
On Monday, the group, named after Mangione’s trial date, shared an update on the crowdfunding page.
“We are excited to announce that we have established contact with Karen Friedman Agnifilo and the rest of Luigi’s legal team, who will be accepting your donations,” they wrote. “In response to hearing about your 10,000+ individual donations, averaging under $30, 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 post went on to note that the two-month anniversary of Mangione’s arrest has 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.”
The December 4 Legal Committee plans to continue raising funds for Mangione’s legal defence for the duration of the trial. Since contacting Mangione’s legal team, the crowdfunding page has raised US$327,270 (nearly C$468,509). The crowdfunding page has a goal of raising US$500,000 (nearly C$715,817.50).
“I can’t stop donating lol! You’re not alone Luigi! Millions of people support you. I am making this small donation on behalf of my deceased brother, who would still be alive today were it not for the insatiable greed of the US healthcare industry and its oligarchs. We need thousand [sic] more just like you, Luigi,” one anonymous donator wrote on the crowdfunding page.
“My 4th time donating because while the US government is trying to take Medicaid away from my quadriplegic ventilator dependent loved one, for profit insurance companies are keeping us sicker and poorer. Our system is a mess, and I believe in justice,” another person wrote.
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In December, Mangione, 26, 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 preempted 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 say Mangione gunned down Thompson as he was walking to an investor conference in midtown Manhattan on the morning of Dec 4.
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.
—With files from The Associated Press
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