Luigi Mangione, suspected of attempting to assassinate the UnitedHealthcare CEO, is scheduled to appear in court today amid warnings from the NYPD that business leaders and political figures might face heightened danger. This comes less than a week after Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk was killed by a sniper during an event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah.

Mangione is facing multiple state and federal charges. Authorities allege that he tracked down and attacked Brian Thompson, the chief executive of the health insurance company, who had traveled to New York City from Minnesota for an investor event.

There is anxiety that Mangione’s actions might lead to imitators. It is claimed he left messages on the shell casings at the crime scene. The person accused of shooting Kirk also purportedly had memes and anti-fascist slogans etched onto the shells of their firearm.

In Manhattan, visible security enhancements were present on Tuesday. At the Blackstone building, where a gunman killed four people in July, more than a dozen security personnel were stationed at the entrance.

Mangione, coming from a wealthy Maryland family and educated at an Ivy League school, has contested the nine state-level charges in New York, including terrorism-related murder, pleading not guilty.

Enhanced security visible at the Blackstone building on Park Avenue in Manhattan on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025. In July, a gunman stormed into the building and killed four people, injuring a fifth. (Fox News Digital)

He faces stalking and other charges at the federal level as well as firearms and forgery charges in Pennsylvania, where he was arrested.

Despite the allegations against him, he has received an alarming amount of support online, and supporters have been seen rallying outside his court appearances dressed up like the character Luigi from “Super Mario Bros.”

Supporters of Luigi Mangione gather outside of Manhattan Criminal Court for a hearing in the murder of UnitedHealth Care CEO Brian Thompson on September 16, 2025, in New York City. Mangione is accused of murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson late last year. He is facing 11 counts for the December 4 shooting of Thompson outside a midtown Manhattan hotel, which set off a massive manhunt. He is also facing federal charges of murder and other charges in Pennsylvania, where he was arrested.  (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

At an earlier hearing, court officers seized a note addressed to him written on heart-shaped paper, smuggled into the building in a pair of socks sent with civilian clothes he had been allowed to wear instead of a jailhouse jumpsuit. 

His attorneys arrived at Manhattan’s criminal courthouse a few minutes before his 9 a.m. hearing in front of Judge Gregory Carro.

Thompson, 50, spent 20 years working for UnitedHealth Group and became CEO of the UnitedHealthcare subsidiary in April 2021, according to his online bio. He had two children.