Press passes exist to inform the public, not to let activists pose as journalists
In a city where the boundaries of press freedom have always been contested, New York now confronts a question that the digital age has made unavoidable: when anyone can publish, who truly qualifies as press? Three vocal supporters of accused killer Luigi Mangione obtained official city press credentials and gained entry to his pretrial hearing, prompting Mayor Zohran Mamdani to call for a review of credentialing standards. The episode sits at the intersection of evolving media, public access to justice, and the uncomfortable reality that the rules governing both were written for a world that no longer quite exists.
- Three self-described Mangionistas — women who publicly celebrate the killing of a health insurance CEO — entered a high-profile murder hearing not as spectators, but as credentialed press.
- One credential-holder told reporters outside the courthouse that the victim's children were better off without him and should learn not to profit from 'blood money,' igniting immediate outrage from city officials.
- Mayor Mamdani drew a sharp line: holding opinions, even loudly published ones, is not the same as practicing journalism, and the city's own broad credentialing rules had allowed the distinction to collapse.
- The passes were approved under the previous Adams administration in December, turning the controversy into a political flashpoint, with Adams blaming Mamdani and Mamdani announcing a full review of standards.
- The city now faces the deeper, unresolved question: in an era when a personal Instagram account and a handful of published posts can satisfy credentialing requirements, how does any institution separate a reporter from an activist with a platform?
Three women known as the Mangionistas — Lena Weissbrot, Abril Rios, and Ashley Rojas — have made themselves a constant presence outside Luigi Mangione's court hearings, openly celebrating the man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. What drew Mayor Zohran Mamdani's attention this week was not their protest on the courthouse steps, but their presence inside the courtroom, holding official New York City press passes.
Weissbrot runs a small website called The Bicoastal Beat, launched last year, through which she has covered Mangione's earlier appearances. On the day of the pretrial hearing, she told reporters that Thompson's children would be better off without him and needed to reject what she called their father's legacy of 'blood money.' Rojas expressed open indifference to Thompson's death in cruder terms. Rios, who has 150,000 Instagram followers, framed the group's courthouse access as an act of principle and free speech.
Mamdani said plainly that none of the three should have received credentials. He announced a review of the city's entire credentialing process, acknowledging that journalism has changed but insisting that having opinions — even published ones — is not the same as being press. The city's current standards are broad: applicants need six or more published works over two years and can be self-employed, publishing through any medium. By those rules, Weissbrot's website qualified.
The passes were approved in December, before Mamdani took office, under the administration of former Mayor Eric Adams. Adams called the women's statements 'absolutely reprehensible' and blamed Mamdani for failing to continue credential-tightening efforts his own team had begun. Republican Councilman David Carr went further, calling the three 'ghouls' rather than reporters.
The controversy unfolds as Mangione's legal proceedings intensify — his lawyers argued this week that key evidence, including a 3D-printed weapon found in his backpack, should be suppressed as the product of an unlawful search. Against that backdrop, the city must now decide who has the right to witness and document what happens inside its courtrooms, and whether the rules written for an older media world are still fit for the one that has replaced it.
Three women calling themselves the Mangionistas have been a fixture outside Luigi Mangione's court hearings, their voices loud and their message unmistakable: they believe the accused killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was justified. What made New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani take notice this week was not their presence on the courthouse steps, but the fact that they were also inside the courtroom, holding official press passes issued by the city.
Lena Weissbrot, Abril Rios, and Ashley Rojas obtained credentials that granted them access to Mangione's pretrial hearing on Monday. Weissbrot runs The Bicoastal Beat, a website she launched last year with a colleague. She has written about Mangione's earlier court appearances and has been vocal outside the courthouse. On Monday, she told reporters that Brian Thompson's children would be better off without him, and that they needed to learn not to be like their father and to "enjoy the blood money." Rojas was more direct, using profanity to express her indifference to Thompson's death. Rios, who has 150,000 Instagram followers, documented the group's courthouse appearance and posted about it online, framing their activism as a matter of principle and free speech.
Mamdani said plainly that the three should never have received press passes. He announced that his administration would review the entire credentialing process and the standards that govern it. The mayor acknowledged that the nature of news has changed—how it is gathered, reported, and consumed—and that the city needs to keep pace with that reality. But he drew a line: having opinions is not the same as being press, and these three individuals did not fall within any legitimate debate about where that boundary should be.
The credentialing process itself reveals how that boundary has become blurry. The city requires applicants to submit six or more articles, commentaries, photographs, videos, or other journalistic work published within the previous two years. The definition of "members of the press" is broad: anyone who gathers and reports news through any medium—print, digital, broadcast, or internet. They can be employed by a traditional outlet or self-employed. By those standards, Weissbrot's website qualified. The Mangionistas' social media presence—The Bicoastal Beat's 300 Instagram followers, Rios's 150,000 followers on her personal account, Abril Rios's 126 TikTok followers, and a handful of X followers—suggested they had an audience, even if a modest one in some cases.
Former Mayor Eric Adams, who left office in January after a failed reelection bid, said his administration had been in the process of tightening press credentialing rules before he departed, and blamed Mamdani for abandoning those efforts. Adams called the women's statements "absolutely reprehensible" and said that press passes exist to give legitimate journalists access to report the news, not to allow activists to pose as media while promoting what he characterized as extremism and political violence. Republican City Councilman David Carr was harsher, saying the three should never have been allowed into the courtroom and calling them "ghouls" rather than reporters.
The timing of the controversy is significant. The press passes were approved under Adams's administration in December, before Mamdani took office. The responsibility for credentialing had been transferred from the New York Police Department to the Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment in January 2022, following a lawsuit. Now, as Mangione's case moves forward—his lawyers argued Tuesday that key evidence found in his backpack, including a 3D-printed gun and silencer, should be excluded because the search was unlawful—the city faces a question about who gets to witness and report on the proceedings. Mamdani's review will likely tighten the standards, but the underlying tension remains: in an era when anyone can publish online, how does a city distinguish between a journalist and an activist with a platform?
Notable Quotes
Those three individuals should not have received press passes. My administration is reviewing the entire process and the standards for press credentialing.— NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani
Press passes exist to provide legitimate journalists access to scenes, events, and restricted areas so they can inform the public, not so radical activists can masquerade as members of the media while promoting extremism and political violence.— Former NYC Mayor Eric Adams
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does it matter that these three got press passes instead of just standing outside the courthouse?
Because a press pass gives you access to restricted areas and courtroom proceedings that the general public can't enter. It's the difference between shouting from the sidewalk and sitting inside the room where the case is being decided. It legitimizes you as press.
But they do write things online. Doesn't that make them journalists?
That's the question the city is wrestling with now. They meet the technical requirements—they've published work, they have an audience. But there's a difference between having a platform and being a journalist. These three were explicitly there to advocate for Mangione, not to report neutrally on the proceedings.
So the issue is bias?
It's partly that, but it's bigger. A press pass is supposed to serve the public's right to information. If you're using it to advance a political position or celebrate a crime, you're not serving that function. You're using the city's credibility to amplify activism.
Why did the city approve them in the first place?
The rules are genuinely broad. They allow self-published writers to qualify. The city's definition of press includes anyone who gathers and reports news through any medium. Weissbrot's website technically fits. But the people approving the passes didn't seem to look closely at what these three were actually saying and doing.
What happens now?
The mayor is reviewing the entire process. He's acknowledged that media has changed and the city needs to adapt, but he's also saying there have to be standards. The old mayor is blaming him for scrapping tighter rules that were supposedly in the works. It's a real tension between keeping up with how people actually consume news and protecting the integrity of the credentialing system.