NEW YORK — A Manhattan judge on Tuesday said an overflow room would be provided to members of the press and the public at alleged CEO killer Luigi Mangione’s upcoming murder trial and that jurors would remain anonymous for their own safety. Taking the bench a few minutes before 10 a.m., Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Gregory Carro said recent complaints by Mangione’s legal team about press ...

Reporters are pictured outside Manhattan Supreme Court to cover Luigi Mangione’ s court appearance Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026, in Manhattan, New York.

Barry Williams/New York Daily News/TNS

NEW YORK — A Manhattan judge on Tuesday said an overflow room would be provided to members of the press and the public at alleged CEO killer Luigi Mangione’s upcoming murder trial and that jurors would remain anonymous for their own safety.

Taking the bench a few minutes before 10 a.m., Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Gregory Carro said recent complaints by Mangione’s legal team about press access were premature and that conversations had been ongoing about how to permit more people to attend the closely watched proceedings.

“At no time did the district attorney’s office participate in those discussions, nor did it play any role in determining media or public access. Any suggestion that the district attorney is involved is simply incorrect,” Carro said.

The Maryland man’s defense, led by Karen Friedman-Agnifilo, last month alleged a secretive process had occurred between court administrators and DA Alvin Bragg’s office to hand-pick reporters for coverage of his trial on second-degree murder charges stemming from the 2024 killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

Prosecutors are never involved in determining media or public access to proceedings when space is limited. The state Office of Court Administration oversees the process, typically negotiating with local court reporters, who, in this case, pushed the court to provide an overflow room when jury selection begins on Sept. 8.

The judge on Tuesday said the defense’s contrary suggestions were meritless and “a reckless mischaracterization of the ethics undertaken by this court” to ensure transparency and public access. Carro later quipped that Mangione’s case was “not the first rodeo” in the Manhattan courts.

Mangione, 28, who wore a gray suit over a white shirt to his final pretrial hearing, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and related charges alleging he fatally gunned down Thompson, a 50-year-old father of two teen boys, outside the Hilton hotel in Midtown on Dec. 4, 2024.

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Luigi Mangione talks to one of his lawyers in Manhattan Supreme Court Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026, in Manhattan, New York.

Barry Williams/New York Daily News/TNS

The University of Pennsylvania graduate also faces federal stalking charges, set to be tried by the Trump Justice Department in January 2027. He’s due to appear in federal court on Friday for a joint conference requested Tuesday by Mangione’s lawyers and the Manhattan U.S. attorney, who did not specify a reason.

In a written order filed later on Tuesday, Carro ruled jurors selected for the case would remain anonymous, like in past high-profile trials, such as Donald Trump’s.

In his decision, he made note of threats cited by Assistant District Attorney Joel Seidemann toward people believed to be connected to the case and inflammatory comments made by supporters of Mangione who have attended his court proceedings.

“Given the extraordinary public attention and the documented instances of threatening or hostile behavior by individuals outside the courthouse, the court finds that disclosure of juror names to the public poses an unjustifiable risk of interference with the administration of justice,” Carro wrote.

“These measures do not close the courtroom, limit public access to the proceedings, or impose any prior restraint on press coverage. They are limited protections directed solely at preventing harassment and preserving the integrity of the jury process in a high-profile matter.”

Two of the supporters in question were sitting in the front row on Tuesday wearing City Hall-issued press passes — the self-described “Mangionistas” Abril Rios and Ashley Rojas, who do not claim to be journalists but Mangione’s advocates. In widely criticized comments to The News in May, they celebrated Thompson’s killing and detailed plans to inform people around the courthouse about jury nullification when the trial starts, which is when a jury chooses to declare a defendant “not guilty” despite finding evidence of guilt.

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Luigi Mangione talks to one of his lawyers in Manhattan Supreme Court Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026, in Manhattan, New York.

Barry Williams/New York Daily News/TNS

Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s office said it would reassess the city’s credentialing standards following The News’s reporting on press passes being granted to people without reporting experience. The Mangionistas will hold onto theirs unless the city decides to revoke them.

Amid frustration felt by many Americans over sky-high health insurance costs, the case has garnered overwhelming public interest. Mangione has received over $1 million in public donations toward his defense. The News spotted a line forming for Tuesday’s hearing as early as 6 p.m. Monday.

OCA has said there will be 68 seats reserved for reporters inside the courtroom at the trial, limited to one seat per outlet, and that additional media seats will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.

A pool of journalists will cover jury selection due to the limited seating that will be available when the court surveys hundreds of Manhattanites to find an unbiased panel to consider the hot-button case.

The News spoke with several young people who attended Tuesday’s hearing in support of Mangione who said the Mangionistas’ previous comments did not reflect the views of all of his supporters.

A healthcare worker wearing scrubs who asked to be referred to as Melanie, 26, said the case raised interesting themes, but she couldn’t stand by comments celebrating death.

“They claim to, like, want to help Luigi, and they’re not helping,” Melanie said. “I don’t condone violence, but the fact that this has sparked such a conversation in the country and even worldwide, that’s a fact to be reckoned with.”

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