Luigi Mangione’s ‘Psychiatric Defense’ Completely Undermines Why His Fangirls Loved Him In First Place

Luigi Mangione’s defense team is expected to present a “psychiatric defense” at his murder trial, arguing Mangione was undergoing “extreme emotional disturbance” when he allegedly killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, according to CNN. 

Mangione was charged with the stalking and murder of Thompson in December 2024. Then-Attorney General Merrick Garland alleged Mangione “planned his attack for months and stalked his victim for days before murdering him — methodically planning when, where, and how to carry out his crime.” (RELATED: US Judge Tosses Evidence Against Luigi Mangione) 

Mangione has pleaded not guilty to all federal charges. If the jury finds the psychiatric defense convincing, the charge against Mangione will be reduced from murder to manslaughter, according to CNN.

New York Supreme Court Judge Gregory Carro reportedly ordered Mangione’s attorneys to reveal the basis of their defense by Thursday. 

“[Prosecutors] need to know what the malady is that this defendant suffers and how that triggered an extreme emotional disturbance at the time and place of the occurrence,” Carro said, according to CNN. “Nothing is going to be a surprise. I’m not going to let you surprise the People on the eve of the trial. So, get it done.”

Mangione’s anticipated defense clashes with the image of Mangione promoted by his cultish followers: a folk hero who committed violence as an act of protest against an exceptionally violent capitalist “system.”

Recall the words of the “Mangionistas,” a trio of female Mangione fanatics who celebrated the death of Thompson outside the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse in May. (RELATED: ‘His Children Are Better Off Without Him’: Depraved Luigi Mangione Fans Defend Assassination Of Healthcare CEO Father) 

“Fuck Brian Thompson. That’s all I’m gonna say. That’s all I want to say. Fuck Brian Thompson. Fuck his mom. Fuck that lady who said something on Inside Edition. I said, I said what I said. I don’t give a flying fuck,” a woman wearing a press pass who identified herself as “Ashley” told the press.

“His children are better off without him. They need to learn to not be like their dad. And enjoy the blood money, kids,” a woman named Lena Weissbrot chimed in.

Weissbrot claimed Thompson was “responsible for more deaths than Osama Bin Laden.”

Abril Rios, the third “Mangionista,” added: “I mean, why do we protect the 2nd Amendment so much? Is it to allow people to shoot up schools or is it for us to protect our democracy … When your democracy is eroded and there’s no other option, like, what are people meant to do?”

It’s hard to square this vision of Mangione — as a soldier of the people fighting to save democracy — with the argument that Mangione was essentially suffering a psychological break at the time of Thompson’s murder. I imagine Mangione fans will chalk up the psychiatric defense, if his attorneys go forward with it, to “lawyering” and persist in their adoration of the alleged murderer.