The New York City Council introduced legislation Thursday that would make it easier for the city to suspend or revoke official press passes, a response to a controversy over credentials issued to supporters of Luigi Mangione who used them outside his court proceedings.
The bill, sponsored by Councilmember Chris Banks and co-sponsored by Councilmembers Carmen De La Rosa and Inna Vernikov, would grant the Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment authority to suspend or revoke a press pass when a «preponderance of the evidence» shows it is justified. That standard is lower than the current requirement of «clear and convincing evidence,» which officials say has made it difficult to act against credential holders who misuse them.
City Council Speaker Julie Menin framed the measure as a fix for a specific problem. «We are introducing a bill today, sponsored by Councilmember Banks that will make reforms to press credentials to solve the problem of the Luigi Mangione fangirl, if you will,» Menin said in an interview with FOX 5 New York's «Good Day New York.» «These fangirls, who are not journalists, are showing up at the trial with press credentials that the City of New York is giving to them.»
The issue drew national attention in May, when three Mangione supporters displayed city-issued press passes to the New York Post outside the courthouse on the day of one of his hearings. One of the women, identified as Ashley Rojas, made profane remarks about Brian Thompson, the UnitedHealthcare CEO Mangione killed in December 2024. Another, Lena Weissbrot, appeared to justify the assassination by claiming Thompson «was responsible for more deaths than Usama bin Laden,» the Al Qaeda leader behind the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani later told reporters that «those three individuals should not have received press passes.» The council's bill is intended to streamline the process for taking credentials away in such cases.
Menin, a former commissioner of the Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment, said the goal is to ensure that credentials go to working journalists. «We want them to reform their practices so it's really journalists, legitimate journalists, who should be getting the press credentials,» she said.
Mangione pleaded guilty to federal charges earlier this year, and his legal team is fighting to have New York state-level charges dismissed on double jeopardy grounds. He killed Thompson, a 50-year-old father of two from Minnesota, on a Manhattan sidewalk on Dec. 5, 2024. Surveillance video showed Mangione approaching Thompson from behind and opening fire with a silenced handgun before fleeing on a bicycle. He was arrested at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania, after customers and restaurant workers recognized him from a wanted poster.
The bill's introduction adds a new layer to the ongoing legal and public debate surrounding the case, which has already raised questions about media access and courtroom security. The legislation now moves to the council's committee process, where it will be reviewed before any vote.