Mamdani to 'reassess' standards for NYC credentialed press after 'Mangionistas' say they're glad UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was killed

City Hall has said that New York City will be looking into its press pass process after three women who run an Instagram account called "The Magionistas" were credentialed and seen outside the courthouse on Monday expressing support for Luigi Mangione, the man charged with killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in 2024. 

The trio of Abril Rios, Ashley Rojas, and Lena Weissbrot post pro-Mangione content on the social media account, with Rojas telling reporters, "We are essentially here to be Luigi Mangione's advocate as well as bring social issues to light. And also having more youth engagement when it comes to social issues like this, that's our primary focus."

City Hall spokeswoman Dora Pekec said, "The Mamdani administration is reassessing the city’s process and standards for press credentialing," per the New York Post. 

Weissbrot claimed that "most average Americans support" Mangione, adding, "We're fed up with being exploited and treated like cattle, basically blood sacrifices to line the pockets of health insurance executives and the politicians that they bribe with our money that they're stealing from us. It's pretty sickening, you know. Other countries have had revolutions for far less. We're pretty much the most cucked and submissive population in all of human history, and I'm tired of it. It's time for everyone to grow some balls and stand on business." 

Rojas said in a follow-up video, "f*ck Brian Thompson, I don’t give a flying f*ck he died," and "I said what I said, I don't give a flying f*ck." Weissbrot added, "His children are better off without him. They need to learn to not be like their dad. And enjoy the blood money, kids." 

Weissbrot claimed that Thompson was "responsible for more deaths than Osama bin Laden and I remember Americans celebrating when Osama bin Laden was killed."

NYC press credentials had been issued by the NYPD, allowing journalists to cross fire and police lines and attend some government-sponsored events. However, in 2021, former mayor Bill de Blasio backed a 2021 bill from then-city councilman Keith Powers that stripped the NYPD of the responsibility and gave it to the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME).

MOME requires that applicants submit six or more articles, videos, photos, or other media broadcast or published within the past two years, and the submissions must include in-person coverage of events in which the city set up barriers or restrictions like police or fire lines. 

Former MOME commissioner and current City Council Speaker Julie Menin called on City Hall to significantly reform the credentialling process. "As journalists and others have rightfully highlighted today, media credentials exist for a reason," she said. "The ability of just about anyone to receive them without an appropriate vetting process presents real journalistic, public safety, and logistical concerns."

Powers, the sponsor of the 2021 bill, also spoke out against the Mamdani fans being given the passes. "It’s a privilege to have a New York City press pass," he said. "Anyone promoting or condoning violence is clearly not deserving of one — no matter what agency is issuing the passes."

Despite issuing the passes to fans, other outlets have been denied such access. MOME had initially denied the New York Post’s City Hall bureau chief a press pass in 2025 under former Mayor Eric Adams. City Journal senior editor Charles Fain Lehman said that the Mamdani administration has denied the outlet a press pass.