Mayor Mamdani Criticizes Press Access for Luigi Mangione Supporters: A Controversial Courtroom Decision

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has expressed concerns over the issuance of press passes to a trio of supporters of Luigi Mangione, who refer to themselves as “The Mangionistas.” These individuals attended the court proceedings on Monday concerning the alleged murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

Addressing reporters at a separate press event on Tuesday, Mamdani stated, “Those three individuals should not have received press passes.” He further emphasized that his administration is currently assessing the entire process and the criteria for press credentialing.

Among those granted press access was Lena Weissbrot, a writer for The Bicoastal Beat, a digital platform she co-founded last year. Weissbrot, who has previously covered Mangione’s pretrial hearings, made inflammatory remarks about the victim outside the courthouse on Monday.

“His children are better off without him,” Weissbrot remarked to the press. “They need to learn not to be like their dad — and to enjoy the blood money,” she added.

Ashley Rojas, another member of “The Mangionistas,” made a blunt statement to reporters, saying, “F— Brian Thompson, I don’t give a flying f— he died.”

The approval process for press passes falls under the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, with Mamdani saying they would “initiate our own process to review” the guidelines. NYC press passes were previously approved by the New York Police Department, but following a lawsuit that responsibility was transferred to the mayor’s office in January 2022.

“There’s a good-natured debate to be had about where a press pass should extend and where it shouldn’t,” the mayor said. “However, the three people we are talking about don’t fall within that debate.”

Mamdani said a process that people should trust is most important.

“The nature of news, how it is reported, how it is consumed, has changed,” said Mamdani, who, at 34, is the youngest mayor of New York in over a century. “The city has to keep up with that. We have to ensure that if a New Yorker is getting their news in this manner, we also treat that legitimately.”

The Mangionistas’ Instagram account has a little over 300 followers. The third member of the group, Abril Rios, previewed Monday’s hearing to their 126 followers on TikTok. One of the group’s members provided brief live tweets on X to their 15 followers on that account.

Rios, however, has 150,000 followers on Instagram and shares her opinions there regularly.

On Tuesday, Rios posted a photo of the trio appearing on the New York Post’s front page on her personal Instagram page, writing in part, “I’ve remained true to my beliefs for the last couple of years and this should be zero surprise to any person, group, or media outlet.”

“Having opinions is not illegal, and neither is sharing them,” she wrote. “I wish to see the day that more Americans come forward and are not afraid to speak on what I know many of them truly believe.”

Former New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who left office in January after a failed reelection bid, said on Tuesday his administration was in the process of “rewriting the rules governing NYC press credentials to strengthen standards” before leaving office, and blamed Mamdani for scrapping those new rules.

In a post on X, Adams called the women’s comments “absolutely reprehensible.” “No decent human being should be celebrating or justifying the execution of another person because they disagree with his business practices or politics,” he wrote. “The normalization of this kind of rhetoric is dangerous and morally bankrupt.”

“What makes this even more disturbing is that some of the individuals making these statements hold official NYC press credentials,” he continued. “Press passes exist to provide legitimate journalists access to scenes, events, and restricted areas so they can inform the public, not so radical activists can masquerade as members of the media while promoting extremism and political violence.”

Under the city’s rules, the three would have been granted press passes in December when Adams was still in office.

The city lays out specific requirements for members of the press to obtain passes, requiring the submission of “6 or more articles, commentaries, books, photographs, videos, films, or audios published, broadcast, or cablecast” produced within two years before to the application.

The city defines “members of the press” as anyone who “gathers and reports the news, by publishing, broadcasting, or cablecasting articles, commentaries, books, photographs, video, film, or audio by electronic, print, or digital media, such as radio, television, newspapers, magazines, wires, books, and the Internet.” They can be employed by a media company or self-employed.

Republican City Councilman David Carr said the self-described “Mangionistas” should have been denied access to the court proceedings Monday.  

“This is America — people have the freedom to say or write whatever awful, batsh-t crazy things they want. But these deranged homicide-fan girls should never be allowed access to courtrooms or official press events with the imprimatur of the City of New York,” Carr said on X. “They aren’t reporters — they’re ghouls.”

Mangione took a big hit to his defense in a court appearance Tuesday as his lawyers argued key evidence should not be allowed in his trial. The defense lost a bid to suppress evidence found in a backpack during Mangione’s arrest, including a 3D-printed gun, a silencer and a notebook.

Mangione’s lawyers said their client was unlawfully searched when he was arrested at a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania. The defense said law enforcement should have obtained a warrant before looking in the backpack.