BBQ fork, pizza cutter and driver’s licence: Minnesota man allegedly poses as FBI agent to free Luigi Mangione; arrested

A Minnesota man armed with a BBQ fork and a pizza cutter was arrested at a Brooklyn jail on Wednesday after allegedly impersonating an FBI agent in an attempt to bust high-profile inmate Luigi Mangione out of custody.

According to a criminal complaint filed in the Eastern District of New York, Mark Anderson was arrested at the Metropolitan Detention Center after claiming he had a court order authorising an inmate’s release, Fox News reported.

While the complaint did not name the inmate Anderson sought to free, a law enforcement source told Fox News it was Mangione, the man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in December 2024.




At about 6.50 pm, Anderson allegedly approached the intake area and told uniformed Bureau of Prisons officers he was an FBI agent carrying paperwork "signed by a judge."

When asked for federal credentials, Anderson reportedly presented his Minnesota driver’s licence, claimed he was carrying weapons, and threw a stack of documents at officers that an FBI agent described as legal claims against the U.S. Department of Justice.

Officers detained Anderson on the spot and searched his backpack, where they found a large barbecue-type fork and a pizza cutter.

Authorities said no inmate was released, and the incident did not disrupt facility operations.

Anderson is charged with impersonating a federal officer, a felony that carries a potential sentence of up to three years in prison.

Mangione has been held at the MDC since his arrest in connection with the fatal shooting of Thompson, a killing that drew national attention and intensified scrutiny around executive security. He remains in custody as the case proceeds.