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A man has been arrested after allegedly impersonating an FBI agent in a failed attempt to free Luigi Mangione, the accused killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Getting into it: The man, identified as 36-year-old Mark Anderson of Mankato, Minnesota, was taken into custody after he arrived at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn on Wednesday evening, claiming to be an FBI agent. Anderson told federal jail staff that he had a court order signed by a judge authorizing the release of a detainee, who law enforcement sources later confirmed was Luigi Mangione. He presented what he described as official paperwork, but when asked for identification, he produced only a Minnesota driver’s license.
According to the criminal complaint, Anderson then threw multiple documents at Bureau of Prisons officers, many of which were related to lawsuits against the Department of Justice, and claimed that he had weapons in his bag. A search of Anderson’s belongings revealed a pizza cutter and a barbecue fork, which prosecutors said he described as his “weapons.”
He never presented a badge or other official credentials and made no attempt to conceal his identity. Authorities say Anderson entered the facility’s intake area in an agitated state, demanding Mangione’s release and insisting that the documents he carried were legally binding. This ultimately led to his arrest on a federal charge of impersonating a federal officer.
In court the following day, Anderson’s lawyer, Michael Weil, argued that the incident was not a serious jailbreak attempt but rather a sign of Anderson’s deteriorating mental health. Weil told the court that his client has been in and out of the system since he was 13 years old, was not raised by his biological family, and had recently attempted to seek mental health treatment. He requested that Anderson be released to a hospital for psychiatric evaluation, stating, “This was not a credible or calculated plan—it’s a reflection of someone who clearly needs help.”
Magistrate Judge Taryn Merkl rejected the request for hospital release, citing concerns about public safety, Anderson’s criminal history, and his potential to flee. She ordered Anderson held without bail, noting that he has multiple pending cases in the Bronx, including one involving a firearm, and prior convictions for aggravated robbery and drug offenses.
More to come
