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A self-described Luigi Mangione superfan armed with a pizza cutter and a barbecue fork allegedly posed as an FBI agent in a bizarre and doomed attempt to bust the accused CEO killer out of a notorious Brooklyn lockup, federal prosecutors said.
The would-be rescuer, identified as Mark Anderson, 36, of Mankato, Minnesota, allegedly marched into the intake area of the Metropolitan Detention Center in Sunset Park late Wednesday claiming he had a judge-signed order authorizing Mangione's immediate release.
According to court records and law enforcement sources, Anderson's story quickly unraveled when Bureau of Prisons staff asked for his credentials. Instead of a badge, Anderson allegedly produced a Minnesota driver's license. When pressed further, he handed over a stack of random documents, including paperwork explaining how to sue the Department of Justice.
Things escalated when Anderson allegedly warned staff that he had weapons in his bag. Officers searched the backpack and found a barbecue fork and a circular steel blade resembling a pizza cutter, prosecutors said.
At that point, Anderson allegedly tossed papers at staff and was taken into custody without incident. He was charged with impersonating an FBI agent and was scheduled to make his first court appearance Thursday afternoon in Brooklyn federal court.
Law enforcement sources said Anderson had recently moved to New York City for a job opportunity that fell through, eventually landing work at a pizza parlor — though which one remains unclear. He also has several recent arrests in the Bronx for offenses including petit larceny and menacing.
The strange episode unfolded just days before Mangione, 27, is due back in Manhattan federal court for a pretrial conference in his high-profile murder case.
Mangione, a University of Pennsylvania graduate, is charged with executing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a Midtown sidewalk on Dec. 4, 2024, outside the company's annual investor conference. Prosecutors allege Mangione meticulously planned the killing and wrote about his desire to "whack" Thompson, whom he blamed for what he called UnitedHealthcare's "parasitic" denial of insurance claims.
