Luigi Mangione is innocent. Or, we should all presume that he is.

A recap, in case you somehow missed it: on December 4, 2024, UnitedHealthcare (UHC) CEO Brian Thompson was shot three times and killed in New York City. The assassin, who quickly became known online as the Claims Adjuster, had carved the words “delay,” “deny” and “depose” into the bullet casings—a scathing criticism of the health insurance industry and likely a reference to the book Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don't Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It. The Adjuster fled the scene, and the hunt for the suspect went on for nearly a week, culminating in the arrest of 26-year-old Luigi Mangione at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on December 9. 

I’m not here to discuss my views on health insurance; I’m not here to talk about whether or not Brian Thompson deserved it, or to speculate whether I personally think Luigi Mangione is innocent or guilty. I am, however, here to express the same concern as Mangione’s New York attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo: that law enforcement is violating Mangione’s right to a fair trial by presuming his guilt.

Like everyone else, Mangione has the right to the presumption of innocence. Although not explicitly a constitutional right, presumption of innocence is a fundamental human right, established in U.S. courts in 1895: if you’re accused of a crime, the court should suppose that you are innocent, until and unless you are proven beyond a reasonable doubt to be guilty. If the jurors come into court believing the accused is guilty, they’re already biased against the accused, and the trial won’t be fair.

Friedman Agnifilo is right to be concerned—when discussing Luigi Mangione, instead of the presumption of innocence, law enforcement, political figures, and the media all seem to have concluded that Luigi is guilty. 

Every time Mangione appears publicly, his hands and feet are in shackles; he wears bulletproof vests, and several armed police officers hover over him. When Mangione was transferred from Pennsylvania to New York in what Friedman Agnifilo called “the biggest staged perp walk [she had] ever seen,” he wore an orange jumpsuit and was surrounded by grim-faced politicians and officers armed to the teeth. Politicians, including Mayor Eric Adams of New York City who directly called Luigi Mangione a terrorist, are making an example of him. Law enforcement is making every effort to suggest that he is guilty and that he is dangerous. Documentaries like Max’s Who is Luigi Mangione? are already coming to streaming services, and according to Friedman Agnifilo, the NYPD Chief of Detectives and Mayor Adams both appeared in the documentary discussing evidence, including police paperwork and forensics that Luigi’s defense had not yet received. 

“He is being publicly treated as guilty,” Friedman Agnifilo stated, and this is very capable of swaying potential jurors in Mangione’s case and hindering his right to a fair trial.

Beyond the presumption of innocence, it’s also worth noting that key evidence against Luigi Mangione may have been seized illegally, and some of it may have been planted. Thomas Dickey, Mangione’s Pennsylvania lawyer, is attempting to toss evidence including a 3D-printed gun and the notebook containing Mangione’s alleged manifesto, because police confiscated and searched his bag before he was read his Miranda rights and before he was told why he was being held. Police also allegedly found $8,000 in cash on Mangione, which meant he could be held without bail, but Luigi himself suggested the money was planted, telling the judge, “I don’t have that much money.” 

This is all on top of speculation from Luigi’s supporters that he was framed by an infamously corrupt police department. Protesters outside Manhattan Criminal Court held signs noting the difference between the Adjuster’s eyebrows as pictured on CCTV cameras and Luigi Mangione’s appearance at the time of his arrest. As one Tumblr user wrote, “oh so you’re telling me the guy had a 3 page handwritten explanation of his motives and mindset and a gun and silencer that matches the description despite it being a week since the guy was shot? hmmmm interesting #how convenient #how convenient for them to just find a guy that happens to have all this shit on him #there’s no way it could have [been] planted.”

Since his arrest, Luigi Mangione has also been doxxed on the internet—everyone has analyzed everything about him, from his education to his chronic pain, from his good looks to his Goodreads account. Social media has sensationalized Luigi. He’s become a celebrity, famous for allegedly killing Brian Thompson, and whether or not his trial finds him guilty, the general public will probably think of him as the man who killed the UHC CEO for the rest of his life. He’s become symbolic, both a scapegoat and a martyr, but as his lawyer reminds us, “He’s not a symbol. He’s somebody who is afforded the right to a fair trial. He’s innocent until proven guilty.”

When we talk about Luigi Mangione, especially in online spaces, it is important that we as the general public presume his innocence. He maintains his innocence in court, and if we act like Mangione is guilty and refer to him as the UHC assassin, we could very well be swaying potential jurors in his trials. Luigi Mangione has the constitutional right to an impartial trial. We must uphold that right, especially now when our constitutional rights are under threat by the current executive administration and when crimes—including perceived threats—against the millionaires and billionaires who profit from our injuries and illnesses can be charged as an act of terrorism.