A male suspect was arrested on Wednesday after impersonating a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent and trying to break Luigi Mangione, the suspected assassin of deceased UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, out of the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York. The suspect was armed with a pizza cutter and a barbecue fork.
According to a criminal complaint obtained by Fox News, Mark Anderson, a resident of Minnesota, was arrested at the Metropolitan Detention Center on Wednesday after he claimed to have a court order that authorized Mangione’s release from jail. Fox News reported that Anderson allegedly attempted to convince uniformed Bureau of Prisons officers stationed at the Metropolitan Detention Center’s intake area that he was an FBI agent at roughly 6:50 p.m. on Wednesday.
During Wednesday’s incident, Anderson claimed “that he was an FBI Agent in possession of paperwork ‘signed by a judge’ authorizing the release of a specific inmate,” the criminal complaint states, according to NBC News. Fox News reported that a law enforcement source confirmed that the “specific inmate” was Mangione, who has been charged for assassinating UnitedHealthcare’s CEO in New York City in December of 2024.
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When Anderson was asked to show his credentials, the suspect reportedly showed his Minnesota driver’s license, threw a stack of papers at the law enforcement officer, and claimed that he was carrying weapons.
The criminal complaint states, “Anderson also displayed and threw at [Bureau of Prisons] officers numerous documents. They appear to be related to filing claims against the United States Department of Justice.”
According to Fox News, law enforcement officials detained Anderson, searched the suspect’s backpack, and discovered a pizza cutter and a barbecue fork. The outlet noted that Anderson was later taken into federal custody.
Following Wednesday’s incident at the Metropolitan Detention Center, Anderson was charged with impersonating a federal officer, according to Fox News. The suspect could face up to three years in prison if convicted.
CNN reported that a federal district judge dismissed a murder charge against Mangione on Friday, preventing prosecutors from pursuing the death penalty against the alleged CEO assassin. The outlet noted that the murder charge required the murder of the CEO to have been committed during another “crime of violence.” The judge determined on Friday that the prosecutors’ stalking charges did not represent ‘crimes of violence.
