The perp walk of Luigi Mangione, the suspect charged in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last year, may have backfired on authorities, according to the organizer of an online campaign that has raised more than $700,000 for Mangione.
Sam Beard, the spokesperson for the December 4th Legal Committee responsible for the fundraiser, made the comments during an upcoming series on the “Law & Crime” podcast, which is set to air Monday, according to reporting from The Guardian.
Beard noted that the campaign exceeded its target by more than double once the public witnessed officials “treating him like Hannibal Lecter,” alluding to the iconic fictional serial killer from the film “The Silence of the Lambs.”
“To just demonstrate the sheer power of this state and … to really just show how captured and how small this person is … a lot of us feel like that maybe backfired,” the organizer said.
He also discussed the moment Mangione was extradited to New York following his arrest in Pennsylvania after being spotted at a McDonald’s and later found by police with incriminating evidence. He mentioned how a large contingent of New York police officers, some armed with body armor and rifles, welcomed the shackled suspect at the helicopter where he arrived and then took him to a waiting vehicle.
The perp walk scene, which unfolded about two weeks after the shooting outside the Hilton Midtown hotel where Thompson was set to attend an annual investors meeting, featured Mangione dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit surrounded by law enforcement. New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) was also present.
“We just saw how spectacular they really made that moment,” Beard said.
The group initiated a fundraising campaign on GiveSendGo with an initial target of $200,000. However, it exceeded that amount by more than $150,000 and later raised the goal to $500,000.
The group said it does not support violence but expressed its support for Mangione’s constitutional right to a fair trial. The suspect’s legal team is reportedly collecting the donations on his behalf.
Mangione is facing 16 charges in New York and Pennsylvania, including first-degree murder and two counts of second-degree murder. He has already pleaded not guilty to the state charges.
He is also facing four federal charges including murder, a firearms charge and two counts of stalking, according to the complaint.
