NEW YORK — Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Tuesday the Luigi Mangione supporters who celebrated the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson should not have been issued New York City press credentials, adding that his administration is looking into “what the immediate next steps are” for changing the system of handing out the passes.

The supporters’ inflammatory comments to the Daily News a day earlier, including that they didn’t give a “flying f---” that Thompson had been killed and that his children would be better off without him, set off outrage around the idea that the fans could purport to be journalists.

“My administration is reviewing the entire process and the standards for press credentialing,” the mayor said at a press conference in Queens. “... There is a good-natured debate to be had about where a press pass should extend and where it shouldn’t.

“However, the three people that we are talking about don’t fall within that debate.”

Mangione allegedly gunned down Thompson, a 50-year-old father of two, outside the Hilton hotel in Midtown on Dec. 4, 2024, as the healthcare executive from Minnesota arrived for an annual conference. The 28-year-old has pleaded not guilty in both his state and federal cases.

With many Americans fed up with the U.S.’s inordinately expensive healthcare system, Mangione has garnered considerable support and millions in public donations toward his defense. Federal prosecutors earlier this year said they were eager to put him on trial to publicize evidence that would dispel his Robin Hood image.

Those credentialed who spoke to the Daily News on Monday included Ashley Rojas, Lena Weissbrot and Abril Rios, who operate social media accounts under the handle “Mangionistas.”

While saying those three should not have been credentialed, Mamdani added Tuesday that the city “has to keep up” with the changing nature of how New Yorkers get their news. But he added that “one of the most important things is that I, as the mayor, should not be deciding who is considered a journalist worthy of a pass and who is not.”

The process of changing the rules around press credentials is a somewhat lengthy one that requires periods for public hearings and comment periods.

The NYPD previously managed the issuance of the press passes, but a 2021 City Council law shifted authority over the program to the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment.

At the very end of his term, ex-Mayor Eric Adams’ administration proposed new restrictions on the press passes that raised some concerns among First Amendment advocates, including adding a “Premier Press Card” for journalists with at least two decades of experience and expanding the criteria for denying or revoking a pass. But those proposed restrictions, which were quickly discarded by the Mamdani administration, also included a requirement for applicants to either be employed or affiliated with a media organization or have a membership in a journalism association.

The credentials, while they don’t hold official legal power, verify journalists’ identity and help grant access to government buildings and court proceedings.

To receive a press card, applicants must submit at least six “articles, commentaries, books, photographs, videos, films, or audios published, broadcast, or cablecast” within the previous two years, per the agency.

Mickey Osterreicher, general counsel at the National Press Photographers Association, who helped push for the 2022 shift of press pass authority out of the NYPD, said any credentialing system faces an “inherent tension” between avoiding viewpoint discrimination and preserving the integrity of the badge.

“The fact that some individuals may use credentials in ways that appear more performative, advocacy-driven, or fandom-adjacent than traditional reporting inevitably raises questions about public perception and trust,” Osterreicher said.

“But the alternative, namely allowing government officials to deny credentials based on subjective judgments about viewpoint, popularity, editorial approach, or whether officials believe someone is engaged in ‘real journalism,’ raises serious constitutional concerns.”

David Cruz, president of the New York Press Club, noted in a statement that “more and more journalists have become independent because of changing dynamics and funding of news outlets.”

“Independent journalists deserve credentials, but they should follow rules and norms,” he said. “The people speaking on Monday with press credentials around their necks ignored those journalistic rules and norms. That’s what we want to prevent.”

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