Luigi Mangione accepts nearly $300,000 donation from fans for legal battle in UnitedHealthcare CEO killing
Luigi Mangione, the suspect behind the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, has accepted nearly $300,000 worth of donations from his fans for his legal defense.
PEOPLE Magazine reported that the Dec. 4 legal committee, which is organizing Mangione’s GiveSendGo fundraising, said in an update on Feb. 10 that his legal defense is accepting a total of $297,000 (PhP17.2 million) from his supporters in the murder case.
His lawyer, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, said that Mangione "very much appreciates the outpouring of support” from more than 10,000 individual donors.
The organization has raised $312,000 (over PhP18 million) out of its $500,000 (PhP29 million) goal as of writing.
“Prosecutors have responded to this support by levying unprecedented terrorism charges against Luigi, which would make him eligible for death penalty. This is fundamentally unacceptable,” the Dec. 4 legal committee wrote. “We are thrilled that the money raised by this campaign will go toward building the strongest possible defense against these insulting charges.”
They added that they will continue raising funds for Mangione’s legal defense for the rest of the trial.
“We encourage his millions of supporters to find creative and public ways to advocate for him during his time behind bars in whatever ways seem right,” the organization wrote.
Mangione was accused of murdering Thompson on Dec. 4 outside a hotel in midtown Manhattan, New York City.
He was arrested five days after a fellow customer spotted him eating at a McDonald's restaurant in Altoona, about 370 kilometers west of New York City.
On Dec. 23, he pleaded "not guilty" to the 11-count indictment charging him with murder as an act of terrorism and weapons offenses.
If convicted, he will be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
