GOING TO BAT

Whistleblower Chelsea Manning Makes Surprise Show of Support at Luigi Mangione Hearing

Manning served seven years in prison for leaking documents that exposed U.S. war crimes.

One-time whistleblower Chelsea Manning was one of the hundred-plus people who packed a Manhattan courthouse ahead of Luigi Mangione’s hearing on Friday, according to a report. Manning, who leaked classified military documents, arrived at 8:15 a.m. ahead of the 2:15 p.m. hearing where Mangione will answer to charges that he murdered UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, People reported. “I am here exercising my Sixth Amendment right,” Manning told People at the courthouse. ”I am a member of the New York City public here to witness our court proceedings.” Manning is a former American soldier who was imprisoned for seven years for leaking hundreds of thousands of classified documents that exposed U.S war crimes. In 2017, her sentence was commuted by former President Barack Obama. Supporters thronged the courthouse and erupted in support when Mangione’s attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo arrived, People reported. A huge image depicting Mangione with a halo around his head was also observed projected onto a Manhattan building ahead of his hearing, with the caption “Free Luigi.”