Luigi Mangione’s friends say they’re standing by him even after he admitted to shooting UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson dead

Some of Luigi Mangione’s friends have spoken out in support of the young man after he admitted last week to fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

The 28-year-old confessed in federal court on Friday to gunning down Thompson, 50, in New York City as the healthcare executive walked to a conference on December 4, 2024.

Mangione claimed ‘severe’ back pain drove him to the assassination as he pleaded guilty to one count of interstate stalking resulting in death and one count of stalking through the use of interstate facilities resulting in death.

None of the Maryland native’s family or friends were in court during Friday’s surprise hearing, which was announced less than a month before Mangione’s New York State murder case was scheduled to go to trial on September 8.

Following Mangione’s guilty plea in his federal case, his friends spoke with Rolling Stone, expressing a combination of shock and support.

RJ Martin, Mangione’s friend and former landlord when the killer lived in Hawaii, told the outlet: ‘Friday was deeply emotional.’ 

‘Beyond the noise, Luigi is a human being with a circle of longtime friends who know who he is, stay in touch, and care about him deeply,’ he added.

Martin added that he believes the government painted Mangione as guilty from the moment he was arrested, which would have made ‘a truly fair trial difficult to imagine.’

Other friends who declined to go on the record likewise said they were surprised by Mangione’s guilty plea and expected his case to go to trial, Rolling Stone reported. 

Many said they were saddened to learn the 28-year-old would spend much of his life behind bars.

Another friend, who requested to be referred to by the initials RK, told Rolling Stone that he finds the murder of Thompson ‘unacceptable and deeply sad.’

RK said: ‘[Mangione] never struck me as a political person. I think it speaks to the radicalization in this country in the current day.’ 

Although he disagrees with his friend’s actions, RK said he hopes that Mangione’s guilty plea will not stop the conversation about injustices within the American healthcare system that was sparked by Thompson’s murder.

Those injustices were at the core of Mangione’s motivation to kill the UnitedHealthcare CEO, he said in the prepared statement he read aloud in court on Friday. 

‘After years of enduring severe pain from a broken back, navigating the obstacles of the health insurance system and witnessing similar experiences of countless others, I learned that UnitedHealthcare would be holding its annual investor conference in New York City on December 4, 2024, although the specific location was not publicly disclosed,’ Mangione began as he addressed the court. 

‘I then searched the event online. I observed that the annual conference of America’s largest health care organization and the stated mission… to make the health system work better for everyone, would be attended by company executives, the board of directors, and hundreds of investors, not doctors, nurses, and patients,’ he continued.

‘In November of 2024, I traveled from outside of New York State to Manhattan. I then emailed UnitedHealthcare leadership posing as an investor at a firm managing over $50 billion in assets and requesting information about the conference,’ he said.

‘Unlike my previous interactions with insurers, I received an immediate response within an hour. Before traveling to New York, I used a 3-D printer to make part of a gun, and I equipped the gun with the silencer and magazine. My travel to New York and email to UnitedHealthcare was with the intent to shoot Brian Thompson.’

Mangione concluded: ‘On the morning of December 4, 2024, I shot Mr Thompson in Manhattan, and he died. When I did so, I understood that my actions would place him in fear of death or serious bodily injury. I knew what I was doing was illegal.’

The federal stalking charges he admitted to carry a maximum sentence of life in prison. His federal sentencing hearing has been scheduled for December 18.

While there is no formal plea deal in place, the judge told Mangione that federal sentencing guidelines call for roughly 24 to 30 years in prison – though she stressed she is not bound by that range.

The Thompson family, who came face-to-face with Mangione for the first time at the hearing, issued a statement after the plea, calling for him to face a strong punishment.

‘Today’s guilty plea marks an important step toward justice for Brian and for our family. While nothing will ease the pain of losing him, we are grateful that the federal justice system has held the person responsible for this heinous act accountable,’ the family said.

‘Now we look to the court to ensure that sentencing reflects the severity of this crime. We remain mindful that additional proceedings in New York and Pennsylvania are still to come, and we will continue to seek the justice Brian deserves.’

Outside the courthouse, federal prosecutors emphasized that Mangione does not have a plea deal, and they will seek the maximum sentence.

Mangione’s state trial has been pushed back from September 8 to December 10 as his legal team filed a motion to dismiss the state charges because of New York’s double jeopardy laws.

‘Mr Mangione has been unfairly treated since the outset in every way and has successfully fought off terrorism charges and the death penalty, while also fighting – at the same time – two simultaneous prosecutions in two jurisdictions, who are trying to punish him twice for the exact conduct,’ Mangione’s lawyer Karen Friedman Agnifilo said.

Federal and state governments can prosecute for the same conduct because they are considered independent of each other, but under New York state law, double jeopardy can come into play when a prior prosecution for the same conduct ends in a conviction by guilty plea or a resolution at trial.

A legal expert previously told the Daily Mail that a plea deal could allow Mangione to receive a lower sentence than if he went on trial.

‘Any time they’re going to get a penalty that’s anything better than Mangione spending the rest of his life in jail, that’s a victory,’ former federal prosecutor David S Weinstein said.