Supporters of suspected CEO killer Luigi Mangione establish defense fund

As New York City prosecutors worked Thursday to file murder charges against Luigi Mangione in the brazen killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, supporters of the suspect are donating tens of thousands of dollars to a defense fund set up for him, leaving law enforcement officials concerned , that Mangione is being turned into a martyr.

Several online defense funds have been set up for Mangione by anonymous individuals, including one on the crowdfunding website GiveSendGo that had raised over $50,000 as of Thursday afternoon.

The GiveSendGo defense fund for the 26-year-old Mangione was established by an anonymous group calling itself “The December 4th Legal Committee,” apparently in reference to the day Mangione allegedly assaulted and shot Thompson in Midtown Manhattan when the executive went to his the company’s shareholder conference at the New York Hilton hotel.

“We are not here to celebrate violence, but we believe in the constitutional right to fair legal representation,” the anonymous group said in a statement.

The crowdfunding campaign prompted donations from more than 1,500 anonymous donors across the country, many of whom left messages of support for Mangione, including one person who called himself “A frustrated citizen” and thanked Mangione for “stirring awareness and thoughts in this sleeping nation.”

The GiveSendGo fund for Mangione appeared to be briefly taken down before being restored Thursday.

In a statement to ABC News, a spokesperson for GiveSendGo said the company “operates on a principle of not preemptively determining guilt or innocence.”

“Our platform does not decide legal issues or the validity of causes. Instead, we allow campaigns to remain live unless they violate the specific terms outlined in our Terms of Use. More importantly, we allow campaigns for legal defenses , as we believe everyone deserves the opportunity to access due process,” the GiveSendGo spokesperson said.

The spokesperson added: “We understand the concerns raised by such campaigns and take these matters seriously. When campaigns are reported, our team conducts a thorough review to ensure they comply with our policies. While other platforms may take a different approach, GiveSendGos core value is to provide a space where all individuals, regardless of their situation, can seek and receive support, where donors make their own informed decisions.”

Other crowdfunding sites such as GoFundMe have also removed campaigns requesting donations for Mangione’s defense.

“GoFundMe’s terms of service prohibit fundraising for the legal defense of violent crimes,” the crowdfunding site said in a statement. “The fundraisers have been removed from our platform and all donors have been refunded.”

Amazon and Etsy have removed merchandise from their websites featuring Mangione, including T-shirts and tote bags that read “Free Luigi” and the phrase “Deny, Defend, Depose,” words police said were etched into the shell casings discovered on the site of Thompson’s murder.

“To celebrate this behavior is abhorrent to me. It’s deeply disturbing,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg told ABC News senior investigative reporter Aaron Katersky in an interview Wednesday night. “And what I want to say to members of the public, people who, as you described, are celebrating this and maybe considering other actions is that we will be vigilant and we will hold people accountable. We are ready.”

Prosecutors with the Manhattan district attorney’s office have begun presenting evidence to a grand jury as they work to try to secure an indictment against Mangione, sources told ABC News Thursday.

Mangione’s attorney, Thomas Dickey of Altoona, Pennsylvania, where the suspect was arrested Monday after a five-day manhunt, said his client is presumed innocent and will plead not guilty to all charges against him. Mangione contests extradition to New York.

Asked about people contributing to Mangione’s defense funds that have surfaced, Dickey said, “People are entitled to their opinion, and like I said, if you’re an American and you believe in the American criminal justice system, you have to assume he’s innocent. , and none of us would want anything but that if it were us in their shoes. So I’m glad he had some support.”

In a later interview on CNN, Dickey said he is inclined not to accept any money from his client’s supporters for his defense.

“To be honest with you, I probably wouldn’t,” Dickey told CNN. “I just don’t feel comfortable with it. So I don’t know. I haven’t given it much thought. Obviously my client appreciates the support he has, but I don’t know, it just” doesn’t sit right with me, really.”

Retired FBI Special Agent Richard Frankel said suspects in previous politically charged violent crimes have received unsolicited support.

“We saw that with the Unabomber,” said Frankel, an ABC News contributor, referring to Ted Kaczynski — the mathematician-turned-home-terrorist who blamed technology for a decline in individual freedom and sent improvised explosive devices to targeted individuals between 1978 and 1995.

Frankel said Eric Rudolph, who detonated a bomb in Atlanta’s Centennial Olympic Park during the 1996 Olympic Games and carried out three more bombings as he evaded capture for five years, also attracted followers.

“In my opinion, they are supporting individuals who have committed potentially terrorist acts, but it’s a politically charged act,” Frankel said

Referring to the Thompson killing, Frankel added, “You can be upset about the health care industry, but you can’t threaten or actually hurt members of the health care industry.”

Most recently, Marine veteran Daniel Penny was acquitted of criminally negligent homicide in the strangulation death of Jordan Neely, a homeless man who was acting erratically on a New York City subway, after supporters donated more than $3 million to his legal defense fund.

Law enforcement officials have expressed concern that Mangione is being turned into a martyr. A person this week pasted “wanted posters” outside the New York Stock Exchange with the names of other executives.

A bulletin released Wednesday by the Delaware Valley Intelligence Center, a multi-agency intelligence-sharing network based in Philadelphia, included a photo of a banner hanging from an overpass that read “Deny, Defend, Deploy.”

“Many social media users have directly advocated for the continued killings of CEOs, with some aiming to spread fear by posting ‘hit lists,'” reads the bulletin, obtained by ABC News.

Meanwhile, New York City police investigators continue to build a homicide case against Mangione, who is being held in Pennsylvania on charges stemming from his arrest there, including illegal possession of a ghost weapon and fraudulent identification. Mangione has pleaded not guilty to the charges in Pennsylvania.

On Wednesday, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the three shell casings found at the scene of Thompson’s shooting matched the gun found in Mangione’s possession when he was arrested. She also confirmed that Mangione’s fingerprints were recovered from a water bottle and the wrapper of a granola bar found near the crime scene.