“We are introducing a bill today, sponsored by Councilmember Banks that will make reforms to press credentials to solve the problem of the Luigi Mangione fangirl, if you will,” City Council Speaker Julie Menin told FOX 5 New York’s “Good Day New York” Thursday morning. “These fangirls, who are not journalists, are showing up at the trial with press credentials that the City of New York is giving to them.”<\/p>\n
A trio of Mangione supporters drew national attention in May after showing off their city-issued press passes to the New York Post outside the courthouse on the day of one of the assassin’s hearings.<\/p>\n
MANHATTAN DA’S OFFICE SAYS LUIGI MANGIONE DEFENSE SPREAD FALSE CLAIMS ABOUT MURDER TRIAL MEDIA PLAN<\/a><\/p>\n (L-R) Ashley Rojas and Abril Rios pose for a photo outside of New York State Supreme Court in New York City, NY, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. The pair are among certain influencers who have been granted NYC press passes. (John M. Taggart for Fox News Digital)<\/p>\n “F— Brian Thompson,” one young woman, identified as Ashley Rojas, told the paper, referring to the UnitedHealthcare CEO Mangione killed in December 2024. “That\u2019s all I want to say. F— Brian Thompson. F— his mom.”\u00a0<\/p>\n Another, Lena Weissbrot, appeared to justify the assassination by claiming that Thompson “was responsible for more deaths than Usama bin Laden,” the Al Qaeda leader and mastermind behind the 9\/11 terror attacks.<\/p>\n LUIGI MANGIONE JUDGE SAYS JURORS WILL REMAIN ANONYMOUS AFTER THREATS AND HARASSMENT OF WITNESSES<\/a><\/p>\n Luigi Mangione shouts while officers restrain him as he arrives for his extradition hearing at Blair County Courthouse in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. (David Dee Delgado for Fox News Digital)<\/p>\n New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani later told reporters that “those three individuals should not have received press passes.”<\/p>\n Now, the City Council is looking to streamline the process to take them away.<\/p>\n MANGIONE LAWYERS SAY MEDIA LIMITS AT MURDER TRIAL ARE UNCONSTITUTIONAL, FEAR COURT WILL ‘HAND-PICK’ PRESS<\/a><\/p>\n Lena Weissbrot, a Luigi Mangione supporter and credentialed “independent journalist” is pictured outside Manhattan Criminal Court on Monday, May 18, 2026. (Molly Crane-Newman\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n FOLLOW THE FOX TRUE CRIME TEAM ON X<\/a><\/p>\n The bill, introduced Thursday and co-sponsored by council members Chris Banks,\u00a0Carmen De La Rosa and\u00a0Inna Vernikov, would give the Mayor\u2019s Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME) authority to suspend or revoke a press pass if the “preponderance of the evidence” shows it’s justified.<\/p>\n LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE<\/a><\/p>\n That lowers the threshold from current rules, which require “clear and convincing evidence” to justify taking away press passes<\/a>.<\/p>\n SIGN UP TO GET THE LATEST TRUE CRIME NEWS<\/a><\/p>\n (L-R) Ashley Rojas and Abril Rios pose wait in the hallway of New York State Supreme Court to watch a hearing in the Luigi Mangione case in New York City, NY, Tuesday, August 11, 2026. (John M. Taggart for Fox News Digital)<\/p>\n “We want them to reform their practices so it’s really journalists, legitimate journalists, who should be getting the press credentials,” Menin, who used to be MOME’s commissioner, said in the FOX 5 interview.<\/p>\n GOT A TIP?<\/a><\/p>\n Mangione pleaded guilty<\/a> to federal charges earlier this year, and his legal team is fighting to have New York state-level charges dismissed on double jeopardy grounds.<\/p>\n LUIGI MANGIONE’S NEW YORK MURDER TRIAL ADJOURNED UNTIL DECEMBER OVER DOUBLE JEOPARDY CONCERNS<\/a><\/p>\n (L-R) Ashley Rojas and Abril Rios pose walk through the hallway of New York State Supreme Court to watch a hearing in the Luigi Mangione case in New York City, NY, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (John M. Taggart for Fox News Digital)<\/p>\n LISTEN TO THE NEW ‘CRIME & JUSTICE WITH DONNA ROTUNNO’ PODCAST<\/a><\/p>\n He killed Thompson, a 50-year-old father of two from Minnesota, on a Manhattan sidewalk on Dec. 5, 2024. Surveillance video shows Mangione sneak up on him from behind and open fire with a silenced handgun, before fleeing on a bicycle.<\/p>\n GET BREAKING NEWS BY EMAIL<\/a><\/p>\n He made his way to a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, where police arrested him<\/a> after customers and restaurant workers recognized him from a wanted poster.<\/p>\n![\"Luigi](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/luigi-mangione-supporters_fox-news.jpg\")
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