The defense fund for Luigi Mangione, the alleged killer of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, is rapidly approaching a million dollars in donations.
A crowdsourced legal defense fund on GiveSendGo had raised $758,411 for Mangione’s legal team at the time this article was published on March 25. This comes just over one month after The Dallas Express reported that the fund had received over $350,000 since its creation in early December.
The goal for the fund was previously set at $500,000 but has since been raised to $1,000,000.
A March 5 update reads, “Greetings to all of Luigi’s supporters, and thank you for continuing to show up here in whatever way that you can. The ongoing and dedicated support is a testament to everyone’s righteous rage over the abuses we all suffer at the hands of healthcare insurance executives and corrupt police and courts, and a symbol of our strength when we join together.
“… In the past week [sic] we’ve seen 956 individual donations for a sum total of $25,134! . We have crossed 20,000 donations, and we are well on our way to the $1 million milestone!”
The fund was established by The December 4 Legal Committee, named after the December 4, 2024, shooting incident that resulted in the death of Thompson.
Mangione’s prosecution has been partly defined by a controversy over evidence.
Mangione’s counsel has filed a motion to suppress all evidence seized during Pennsylvania law enforcement’s arrest of the 26-year-old, arguing that an unlawful search and seizure violated Luigi’s Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights.
One legal expert not retained by the prosecution or the defense weighed in on this case to The Guardian.
“Even if this motion is successful, it doesn’t mean that Luigi Mangione walks out of prison,” criminal defense attorney Ron Kuby told the outlet. “All it means is that the items that were seized from him, or seized that belong to him, can’t be used as evidence against him.”
Then, Kuby noted a piece of evidence that the public and press have heavily contested to make his next point.
“That would certainly hurt the prosecution’s case, but he was on video, shooting a man in the back,” he said. “Substantial evidence remains, including his travel and other things.”
Kuby found the merits of this motion are “surprisingly good” and he highlighted the high stakes by noting “so much depends on what happens at a hearing.”
Some legal minds have found the prospects of Mangione walking free to be slim without a psychiatric defense.
“I think the only real defense that you can possibly have here is some kind of insanity or mental defect defense,” former Assistant U.S. Attorney Nick Akerman, who served as a Watergate prosecutor, told CNN.
Then-FBI Assistant Director James E. Dennehy said at the time Mangione was apprehended, “Luigi Mangione allegedly conducted the carefully premeditated and targeted execution of Brian Thompson to incite national debates. This alleged plot demonstrates a cavalier attitude towards humanity – deeming murder an appropriate recourse to satiate personal grievances.
“Through continued close partnership with the NYPD, the FBI maintains our steadfast commitment to fervently pursue any individual who promotes a personal agenda through violence.”
NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch concurred.
“NYPD detectives worked relentlessly to identify and widely distribute images of the suspect who allegedly carried out this premeditated, preplanned, targeted murder, and they are committed to assisting prosecutors in seeing this important case through to its rightful conclusion. This senseless incident highlights the critical role of the public in the NYPD’s public safety mission, and I thank everyone who saw something, said something, and did something.
“It is because of the public’s actions that we now have an alleged killer in custody back in New York City,” Tisch added.