{"id":356200,"date":"2026-09-25T00:00:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T00:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/356200\/"},"modified":"2026-09-25T00:00:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T00:00:09","slug":"luigi-mangiones-nyc-press-pass-flaunting-fangirl-works-as-aide-in-nj-councilmans-office","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/356200\/","title":{"rendered":"Luigi Mangione’s NYC press pass-flaunting fangirl works as aide in NJ councilman’s office"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Luigi Mangione superfan who flaunts her Big Apple press pass<\/a> at the CEO killer\u2019s court hearings is also an aide to a lefty New Jersey councilman.<\/p>\n

Abril Rios, a self-proclaimed \u201cMangionista,\u201d <\/a>is a part-time media and constituent services aide for Jersey City Councilman Jake Ephros, a Democratic Socialist, the lawmaker confirmed to NJ.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Rios \u2014 who has said the cold-blooded murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, 50, was \u201cmore of a revolutionary act of protest\u201d<\/a> \u2014 helps out with the councilman\u2019s social media pages and district office hours.<\/p>\n

Abril Rios, one of the mangionistas, is also a part-time media and constituent services aide for Jersey City Councilman Jake Ephros, a Democratic Socialist. Lone Pine Press for NY Post<\/p>\n

\u201cAbril is a communications professional with valuable experiences who contributes a lot to the daily works of our office,\u201d Ephros said in a statement to the outlet.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a freelance press, she is mainly active in the coverage of a single case in New York City, which does not conflict with nor impact the important work she performs for us in Jersey City.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ephros said his \u201cunderstanding\u201d is that Rios\u2019 involvement in the Mangioni case is centered on \u201cher support for Medicare for All.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Luigi superfan has been working for the Jersey City lawmaker since June, according to her LinkedIn page.<\/p>\n

Ephros, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, is also a backer of universal healthcare \u2014 and touts support for universal rent control, a municipal grocery store in Jersey City, and eliminating tipped minimum wage, according to the publication.<\/p>\n

Rios and fellow \u201cMangionistas\u201d Ashley Rojas and Lena Weissbrot sparked outrage after proudly trumpeting their press passes they received from New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s administration during a key evidentiary hearing in the murder case in May.<\/p>\n

Rios \u2014 a model and \u201cHot Girl for Zohran\u201d\u00a0 \u2014 writes about Mangione\u2019s case on Substack. In a previous blog post, co-bylined by the \u201cMangionistas,\u201d she defended her press pass.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust like you can get a press pass to push anti-socialist slop, I can also get one to use my voice to platform what I believe in,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n

Ashley Rojas, Abril Rios and Lena Weissbrot, from left, pose wearing press credentials and pins supporting Luigi Mangione outside Manhattan Court, Monday, May 18, 2026. Lone Pine Press for NY Post<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were always the supporters, who saw a brave young American standing up to the lived experiences we all share,\u201d she added in a self-published August article after Mangione pleaded guilty<\/a> to federal charges<\/a>\u00a0and detailed his plot to assassinate the healthcare bigwig and dad of two over grudges about the industry.<\/p>\n

Mamdani has since said the trio should not have press credentials.<\/p>\n

The New York City Council also recently proposed a bill, sponsored by Brooklyn Councilman Chris Banks, to allow the Mayor\u2019s Office of Media and Entertainment to suspend or revoke a press credential at an administrative hearing.<\/p>\n

Luigi Mangione appears in Manhattan Supreme Court in New York, Monday, December 8, 2025. Mangione is accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Manhattan on December 4, 2024. Stephen Yang for NY Post<\/p>\n

Rios told NJ.com that she is \u201cvery concerned\u201d about the bill, which would also force the MOME to review its rules regarding the \u201cissuance, suspension, and revocation of press credentials.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s just blatant viewpoint discrimination taking place at this time,\u201d she said, likening the bill to President Trump\u2019s ban on CNN, MSNOW, and Politico from the White House.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI think it\u2019s only bolstering authoritarianism,\u201d Rios whined, before describing herself as \u201cextremely multifaceted\u201d in her career choices. <\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t just say I\u2019m a member of the press, or I\u2019m just an activist, or I\u2019m just a media aide,\u201d Rios said. \u201cI\u2019m someone who\u2019s extremely multifaceted, and that\u2019s something I\u2019ve always been proud of. I can\u2019t just define myself as one thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ephros did not respond to The Post\u2019s request for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Luigi Mangione superfan who flaunts her Big Apple press pass at the CEO killer\u2019s court hearings is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":356201,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[301,1091,11487,6974,57,1066,9,24,55,54,56,23374,58],"class_list":["post-356200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-city-council","tag-democratic-socialists-of-america","tag-jersey-city","tag-luigi-mangione","tag-metro","tag-new-jersey","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-ny","tag-press","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=356200"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356200\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/356201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=356200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=356200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=356200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}