Man ‘with pizza cutter pretended to be FBI agent to break Luigi Mangione out of jail’

A man allegedly tried to spring Luigi Mangione out of prison in New York by impersonating an FBI agent.

Mark Anderson, 36, was charged today after police said he showed up at the Metropolitan Detention Center saying he was with the FBI.

Anderson walked up to the intake area at about 6.50pm yesterday and told guards he had papers ‘signed by a judge’ ordering Mangione’s release.

Mangione has been held in the Brooklyn prison since his arrest in 2024 over the shooting death of a health insurance chief executive.

Federal prosecutors allege Anderson told guards he had weapons in his backpack – inside the bag was a barbecue fork and a pizza cutter.

Anderson works for a pizzeria in New York, according to reports.

The prison break attempt fell apart when prison personnel asked to see the man’s credentials.

Rather than flash them an FBI ID card, the man allegedly showed them a driving licence and threw numerous documents at them.

The criminal complaint against Anderson does not name Mangione as the target of the alleged breakout attempt, but sources told ABC News that the suspect tried to free Mangione.

Anderson, from Mankato, will appear in court later today.

Mangione, meanwhile, is due in court on Friday.

He faces state and federal charges – and possibly the death penalty – in the killing of Brian Thompson, the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare.

Mangione was arrested at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, some 300 miles away from the shooting outside a Hilton hotel in Manhattan.

Since his arrest five days following the shooting, Mangione has been flooded with supporters – some wearing t-shirts calling for his release.

They have sent him books and photographs and contributed thousands of dollars to his defence fund.

Prosecutors are calling for Mangione’s murder trial to start in July.

He had pleaded not guilty to all charges.

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