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By Kate Plummer
Senior US News Reporter
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A protest against the death penalty has been planned outside a Luigi Mangione court hearing on Friday.
Mangione is accused of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in December 2024 in New York City.
The 27-year-old, who was arrested at a Pennsylvania McDonald's five days after the shooting, is facing charges at the federal and state levels in New York and Pennsylvania. Federal prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
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Mangione has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Newsweek reached out to Mangione's legal team by email to comment on this story.
Why It Matters
The protest highlights how divisive and high profile the case is, with the public locked in a debate about how Mangione should be treated if he is found guilty.
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Meanwhile, the protests speak to a broader conversation in the U.S. about the use of the death penalty, which is contentious. In 2024, 25 death row inmates were executed, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. By November 2025, 43 inmates had been executed in the whole of 2025.
What To Know
The protest, organized by non-profit Death Penalty Action, will take place from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. E.T. outside the U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York.
It comes as Mangione's lawyers will ask Judge Margaret Garnett to dismiss two of the four federal counts against him, one—murder through use of a firearm—which comes with a potential death penalty sentence. The other count his legal team want removed is a firearms offense, while he is also charged with two stalking counts.
Speaking to Newsweek, Death Penalty Action Executive Director Abraham Bonowitz said he expected between five and ten people to attend the protest with signs protesting against the death penalty. He said that he had not had contact with Mangione, his legal team, or local law enforcement about the plans.
In a statement, Bonowitz also said the death penalty had not been sought in other high-profile cases, raising questions about fairness in the application of law.
He added: "Additionally, Luigi’s case is in the State of New York, a jurisdiction which has rejected capital punishment. Prosecution of Mr. Mangione while the State pursues its own case is an unnecessary waste of government resources while at the same time inserting the Trump Administration's authoritarian agenda for purely political purposes."
What People Are Saying
Death Penalty Action Executive Director Abraham Bonowitz said in a statement: "AG Bondi inserted the Administration's political agenda into this case by calling for the death penalty even before Mr. Mangione was indicted, immediately politicizing the case.
"We don't take a position on Luigi's guilt or innocence, but the federal government's decision to seek the death penalty from the start, while not pursuing it in others like the El Paso Walmart shooting, raises serious questions about equity that deserve public attention."
What Happens Next
The ruling in the defense motions remain to be seen.
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