Fake FBI agent arrested after attempting to free Luigi Mangione

A Minnesota man has been charged with impersonating an FBI agent after authorities say he went to a federal detention center in Brooklyn claiming to have a court order to release accused killer Luigi Mangione.

Mark Anderson, 35, was arrested late Wednesday at the Metropolitan Detention Center after prison staff questioned his credentials, according to a criminal complaint filed in US District Court in Brooklyn. Anderson allegedly told officers he was an FBI agent and said he had paperwork “signed by a judge” authorizing Mangione’s release.

When asked to provide identification, Anderson produced a Minnesota driver’s license and claimed to be carrying weapons, the complaint says. Officers later found a barbecue fork and a round steel blade resembling a pizza cutter in his backpack.

The court filing does not name the inmate, but a law enforcement source identified the person Anderson sought to free as Mangione, who has been held at the facility since December 2024.

Anderson was ordered detained Thursday after a magistrate judge determined he posed a flight risk, according to the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York. His court-appointed attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Mangione, 27, is charged in New York with second-degree murder in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and faces additional federal charges, including murder and stalking. He has pleaded not guilty to all counts.

Federal prosecutors have said they plan to seek the death penalty, describing the killing as an act of political violence. Despite the charges, Mangione’s legal defense fund has raised more than $1 million amid public anger over the for-profit healthcare system.