A Minnesota man was arrested Wednesday night after allegedly attempting to impersonate a federal agent in an effort to secure the release of Luigi Mangione from custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center, according to court documents and law enforcement sources.
Mark Anderson, 36, of Mankato, Minnesota, arrived at the Brooklyn facility and claimed to be an agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, asserting that he possessed paperwork signed by a judge authorizing the release of a specific inmate. That inmate was Mangione, the 27-year-old accused of murdering Brian Thompson, the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare, in Manhattan in December 2024, a law enforcement source confirmed to CNBC.
According to the complaint, when Bureau of Prisons staff requested Anderson’s credentials, he instead presented a Minnesota driver’s license. Anderson also allegedly stated that he had weapons in a bag he was carrying. A subsequent search revealed a barbecue fork and a circular steel blade resembling a pizza cutter. Authorities said Anderson also displayed and threw several documents at officers, which an FBI agent described in the complaint as “appearing related to claims filed against the United States Department of Justice.”
Anderson was charged federally with impersonating an FBI agent and was expected to make an initial appearance in Brooklyn federal court on Thursday.
Mangione remains detained without bail at the Metropolitan Detention Center. He has pleaded not guilty in both state and federal cases stemming from Thompson’s killing. Prosecutors allege that Mangione stalked and fatally shot Thompson on December 4, 2024, as the executive entered a midtown Manhattan hotel for an investors’ event. Mangione was arrested five days later at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
Federal prosecutors are seeking the death penalty if Mangione is convicted, with a judge expected to rule on that issue in the near future. Jury selection in the federal case is tentatively scheduled for September. Separately, Manhattan state prosecutors have pushed for a July trial date in their parallel prosecution, which carries the possibility of a life sentence.
Law enforcement sources said Anderson had traveled to New York City for a job opportunity that ultimately fell through and had since been working at a pizzeria.
[Read more: Democrat Accidentally Tells The Truth]
