Staff Reports
Videos this week showed three self-styled “Mangionistas” standing outside a Manhattan courtroom wearing City of New York press credentials while cheering the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. The footage is shocking — not just because of the words they used, but because they had municipal press badges on their chests while saying them. That raises a simple question: how does a Substack and a loud mouth get a city press pass that looks like a seal of legitimacy?
How they got city press badges
The badges in question come from the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME). Under current MOME rules, digital-first outlets and independent publishers can qualify for standard or single-event press cards if they show recent published work. In practice, that means a Substack, social accounts, or small independent newsletter can apply and sometimes get a badge. So yes, a little blog and a lot of attitude can meet the paperwork checklist. Apparently, that’s all you need to walk into a courtroom looking like an accredited reporter.
What they said — and why it matters
The video clips are raw. One of the women shouted, “F—k Brian Thompson. That’s all I want to say.” Another called him “better off without him” and joked about “enjoy the blood money.” Those aren’t private opinions shared in a chat room. They were delivered in public, on camera, wearing a city-issued press card. That combination creates a dangerous illusion: it makes their voice look like journalism when it is clearly partisan advocacy and, in this case, praise for violence. A press badge isn’t a participation trophy. It signals trust. City-issued trust shouldn’t be handed to people celebrating murder.
Why MOME can’t just yank the badges — and why that’s a problem
There is a legal and administrative reason the badges don’t get stripped on the spot. Once MOME issues a press card, revoking or suspending it usually means an administrative hearing at the city’s Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings (OATH). That process protects due process, and it should. But it also ties MOME’s hands when the public sees someone wearing a badge and celebrating violence. The result is a look of official sanction without the safeguards of real journalism. That’s a policy failure, not a legal mystery.
Fix it now: tighten rules, speed reviews, restore trust
Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration and MOME should act fast. They can tighten eligibility rules to require clear, verifiable newsgathering work over time, demand editorial independence, and build a faster emergency-suspension power for badges when holders publicly celebrate or incite violence. None of that requires a content-based veto of speech — it only requires the city stop handing out symbols of legitimacy like candy. If New Yorkers can’t trust that a city press card means someone is doing real journalism, then the whole system needs a reboot. Call it common sense, or call it protecting the public from the optics of civic authority endorsing violence — either way, it’s overdue.
