Stop the press passes.
A baffling decision by City Hall media officials to give three murder-minded Luigi Mangione fangirls press passes drew wide condemnation Monday.
Exactly how the self-proclaimed “Mangionistas” were granted their city credentials was unclear, but critics blamed a reform shepherded under former Mayor Bill de Blasio that relaxed rules for handing out press credentials.
“This is America — people have the freedom to say or write whatever awful, bats–t crazy things they want. But these deranged homicide-fan girls should never be allowed access to courtrooms or official press events with the imprimatur of the City of New York,” said David Carr (R-Staten Island), the City Council’s minority leader.
“They aren’t reporters — they’re ghouls.”
New York City press credentials — which help journalists cross police and fire lines, as well as attend certain government-sponsored events — had been long issued by the NYPD.
But the responsibility was stripped from the NYPD after 2020’s protests over the murder of George Floyd, during which cops arrested several journalists.
De Blasio backed a 2021 bill pushed by former city councilman and current state Assemblyman Keith Powers (D-Manhattan) that gave the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment the duty of issuing press passes.
MOME officials eventually required press pass applicants to submit six or more articles, photos, videos or other media published or broadcast in the past two years.
The applicants’ submissions must also be in-person coverage of events, emergency and otherwise, in which the city set up barriers or restrictions such as police or fire lines.
The vague rules seemingly let posts by “Mangionistas” Abril Rios, Ashley Rojas and Lena Weissbrot about attending court hearings for UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s alleged killer count toward press passes — issued to them this year by Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration.
The decision to award press passes to the Mangionistas was widely criticized.
“The only difference between Luigi Mangione’s followers and Charlie Manson‘s followers are that Manson’s followers weren’t issued a press pass by the city of New York,” one X user snarked.
City Council Speaker Julie Menin, who had previously served as the MOME’s commissioner, called on City Hall to look into significantly reforming the media credentialing process.
“As journalists and others have rightfully highlighted today, media credentials exist for a reason,” she said. “The ability of just about anyone to receive them without an appropriate vetting process presents real journalistic, public safety, and logistical concerns.”
Even Powers, who had sponsored the bill to change credentialing rules, criticized giving the fans passes.
“It’s a privilege to have a New York City press pass,” he said. “Anyone promoting or condoning violence is clearly not deserving of one — no matter what agency is issuing the passes.”
At least two other Mangione superfans have obtained press passes. Several of the accused assassin’s supporters also attended court hearings for disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, which would presumably allow them to try to apply for press passes.
Beyond the Mangione superfans, the city has issued passes to a struggling YouTuber who jubilantly sprayed baby oil on supporters of depraved music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs after he was acquitted of sex trafficking charges.
By contrast, many veteran reporters employed by mainstream outlets have faced baffling rejections for press passes from the office. MOME initially denied The Post’s City Hall bureau chief his press pass in 2025 under former Mayor Eric Adams, before he took to social media to drag the agency.
Adams, whose relationship with the media became downright sour during his scandal-plagued single term, had tried to rewrite the press pass rules in his administration’s waning days.
He posted on X that Mamdani’s new administration had scrapped the proposed reforms.
“That decision was reckless,” Adams wrote. “Official press credentials should not be handed out in a way that allows extremists to abuse them while hiding behind the credibility and protections afforded to legitimate journalism.”
City Hall spokeswoman Dora Pekec said the administration will give the matter another look.
“The Mamdani administration is reassessing the city’s process and standards for press credentialing,” she said.