Man who allegedly tried to free Luigi Mangione by impersonating an FBI agent has been arrested

Washington — A man was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly impersonating an FBI agent and trying to free Luigi Mangione from the Brooklyn jail where he is being held, according to federal court filings and a law enforcement source.

According to a court affidavit unsealed on Thursday, the man, Mark Anderson, approached the intake area inside the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn and claimed that "he was an FBI agent in possession of paperwork 'signed by a Judge' authorizing the release of a specific inmate who was in custody at the MDC." 

That inmate, a federal law enforcement source told CBS News, was Mangione, the man charged with killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a Manhattan street in December 2024. The source added that Anderson had traveled to New York for a job opportunity that did not work out and has been working in a pizzeria. Anderson is 36 years old and from Mankato, Minnesota, the source said.

When asked for his credentials, Anderson "displayed his Minnesota Driver's license to the [Bureau of Prisons] officers and then claimed to be in possession of weapons," according to the affidavit. 

Anderson "also displayed and threw at the BOP officers numerous documents" related to filing claims against the Department of Justice, the affidavit said. 

After Anderson was detained, a backpack he had in his possession was searched and revealed "a large barbeque type fork and a round steel blade," the filing said, and he was taken into custody. The affidavit included a photo of the contents of his bag:

Mangione is currently awaiting trial for Thompson's murder, with a judge recently setting a date of Sept. 8 for the start of jury selection.