What's the easiest way to funnel your son money in a way that also looks optically sparkling for a high profile case? I know my Italian family's always been absolutely surgical when it comes to the strategy and calculus of support. And then there's that whole thing where the FBI paid his ma a "visit" before he was even apprehended.
I think his family must be supporting behind the scenes where it matters (paying the legal bills and visiting or calling him). I think his sister posted a supportive message "Praying for you" on her Instagram story. They are probably advised not to show publically since it probably won't affect the case. They are probably going through a difficult time - with having him go missing before all this and his hawaiin roommate said their family was looking for him non stop. I wouldn't make quick conclusions. I have a strong feeling they love and care for him but in private. Also even if he didn't feel they met his emotional needs it doesn't mean they don't love him - it could just mean they had flaws and tried to give him what they thought was best for him. Hopefully, this ordeal can be over sooner than latter. Praying for a miraculous acquittal and true justice to prevail.
I read somewhere a while ago that the family had an attorney as well. I don’t know how quickly they got the attorney, but do you think their attorney helped draft the statement shared by the cousin and do you believe the attorney would be advising the family to be very quiet…as well as KFA advising to wait to show their presence for a later date? I have believed from the point that Thomas Dickey was hired that his family was supporting him?!?
I believe that someone has definitely advised the entire family to be silent, and that there are really only two possibilities of where that directive is coming from. I do think it makes sense to advise them not to appear in person until the trial--what I find more odd is the ability to get the whole family and extended family all on the same page about zero supportive statements at all. You would generally want to curate the idea that he comes from a big, loving family and promote an image of his family supporting him. Certain things make sense to me if they were coming from his legal team, while others don’t. Definitely don’t doubt a family like the Mangiones has a standing family attorney, separately from anything related to Luigi’s cases. Initially, I believed his family had retained Dickey. It’s still possible they did. But Dickey has stated he is accepting the funds raised from the Legal Defense Fund, along with KFA. The Mangiones don’t need any financial help with this, so that is a red flag for me. It’s true, as another commenter wrote, that their legal bill may very well end up in the millions, so there would still be balances owed not covered by the amount raised by the legal defense fund. That is true, but my personal opinion/speculation is that if it were just the Mangione family handling everything, they would not accept the money from the legal defense fund. Which invites another set of questions!!
We're really not, though. At least not in public in mixed company. That's a stereotype. My Dad was first generation Sicilian-American. My grandparents immigrated from Sicily when they were in their teens. My father was raised never to draw attention to himself and to assimilate. The fact that we have not seen or heard from his family does not seem odd to me. I suspect that they're handling everything behind the scenes..
He asked for a public defender, but when the hearing arrived, Dickey had already been hired. Dickey also postponed Luigi's transfer to NY so that they could choose a lawyer for him there... This defense is going to cost millions, so I think his family will be the ones paying. At first, Dickey said that Luigi would not accept the money from the fund, maybe he changed his mind to show that he accepts the public's support. Whenever a documentary about him comes out and no family or friends appear, I think it's great. That's how it should be.
Two of his close friends posted about how good he was: Tracy (who still comments on him on some TikTok accounts and Patrick, who captioned a photo saying "he's not a monster"). Showing up with a bunch of media on your back to spend 15 minutes in court doesn't seem reasonable to me. We'll only know for sure about the family's support when the trial starts.
I agree the trial will be the true test, it doesn’t make sense to put themselves thru it until then. I can understand no family at court yet or talking to press, I think there’s strong arguments for that at this point. It’s the total lack of any even generic support from anyone in the whole family I find more odd. Yes, I agree that it’s good they were not in the documentary. I’m saying I’m very suspicious of the people in the documentary, but especially those calling themselves his “family friend.”
I am also a trial lawyer and have been drawn deeply into this case since day one. My thought on the family silence was that it was at the direction of his lawyers. I think that having a pained mother sitting behind Luigi in court would demolish his image as a hero/hunk/genius/victim. Unpredictable and emotional visible family support would serve to weaken him and dilute the power of his physicality and the lone wolf nature of the allegations. I think keeping the family away keeps the stranger support strong.
I think there is a strong argument for this, but it doesn’t answer the complete radio silence from every person who will not even say “praying for you.” To me, this is what is more strange. Also, a family like his, they would be able to control themselves in the court room. I agree that if I were KFA, I would be advising against talking to any press at all, but I’m not sure I would think zero family support at any hearing would be the right move. I can see the logic, but she has tried repeatedly thru emotional appeals to humanize him. Her whole thing to the judge every time has been to treat him like a normal human being. I think having his Mom or sister there would be something KFA would do, IF it were an option. It makes me wonder if it’s not an option bc the family is genuinely not supporting him. These are also just pre trial motion hearings so it’s also possible they are waiting until more substantive proceedings or the trial itself before going through the press gauntlet. That’s also very understandable to me. We shall see…
2nd-gen Italian-American here! We have no idea what's going on behind the scenes within the Mangione family and they most likely want to keep it that way. They seem to understand that when relatives speak to the media, his legal team loses control of the narrative.
My guess is there's a Mangione family mandate to keep your mouth shut so his legal team can do their job, and keep the media story as focused and clean as possible. No new characters to invite public scrutiny. The optics of family support may seem like the *right* thing to do, but it certainly wouldn't be the most effective. Family members in the courtroom would be a distracting sideshow.
Plus, KFA is an excellent stand-in for the indignant and protective Italian American mother, and I think that was a big factor in placing her front and center on his team. (Aside from her being a badass lawyer.)
If anything, the family's solidarity in their silence is a testament to their discipline and strategic thinking. It's very tempting for some random cousin to cash in on 15 minutes of fame by speaking the media, but the Mangiones seem too smart for that.
We may not see them showing up for him, but bear in mind not one of them ratted him out when those cab driver pictures dropped.
I loved your first-person account of the hearing! Thanks so much for the work you're doing, I'm staying glued to your updates.
This is certainly a possible angle! 📐 the whole family is clearly on the same page, whatever the reason is. That’s my point…it’s one thing to decide not to talk to press or provide fodder by appearing at hearings. But to have everyone agree that no one will show any ounce of anything that could be interpreted as support, is what’s more odd to me. We actually have no idea who really “ratted him out” we have the story we’ve been given about some guy in a McDonald’s recognizing him and telling an employee who then calls the cops. Someone they won’t pay the reward money for some reason, lol. But a lot of these things would be in the search warrants and affidavits that have still not been turned over to his Defense team!
What's the easiest way to funnel your son money in a way that also looks optically sparkling for a high profile case? I know my Italian family's always been absolutely surgical when it comes to the strategy and calculus of support. And then there's that whole thing where the FBI paid his ma a "visit" before he was even apprehended.
I think his family must be supporting behind the scenes where it matters (paying the legal bills and visiting or calling him). I think his sister posted a supportive message "Praying for you" on her Instagram story. They are probably advised not to show publically since it probably won't affect the case. They are probably going through a difficult time - with having him go missing before all this and his hawaiin roommate said their family was looking for him non stop. I wouldn't make quick conclusions. I have a strong feeling they love and care for him but in private. Also even if he didn't feel they met his emotional needs it doesn't mean they don't love him - it could just mean they had flaws and tried to give him what they thought was best for him. Hopefully, this ordeal can be over sooner than latter. Praying for a miraculous acquittal and true justice to prevail.
I read somewhere a while ago that the family had an attorney as well. I don’t know how quickly they got the attorney, but do you think their attorney helped draft the statement shared by the cousin and do you believe the attorney would be advising the family to be very quiet…as well as KFA advising to wait to show their presence for a later date? I have believed from the point that Thomas Dickey was hired that his family was supporting him?!?
I believe that someone has definitely advised the entire family to be silent, and that there are really only two possibilities of where that directive is coming from. I do think it makes sense to advise them not to appear in person until the trial--what I find more odd is the ability to get the whole family and extended family all on the same page about zero supportive statements at all. You would generally want to curate the idea that he comes from a big, loving family and promote an image of his family supporting him. Certain things make sense to me if they were coming from his legal team, while others don’t. Definitely don’t doubt a family like the Mangiones has a standing family attorney, separately from anything related to Luigi’s cases. Initially, I believed his family had retained Dickey. It’s still possible they did. But Dickey has stated he is accepting the funds raised from the Legal Defense Fund, along with KFA. The Mangiones don’t need any financial help with this, so that is a red flag for me. It’s true, as another commenter wrote, that their legal bill may very well end up in the millions, so there would still be balances owed not covered by the amount raised by the legal defense fund. That is true, but my personal opinion/speculation is that if it were just the Mangione family handling everything, they would not accept the money from the legal defense fund. Which invites another set of questions!!
"We are also famously loud."
We're really not, though. At least not in public in mixed company. That's a stereotype. My Dad was first generation Sicilian-American. My grandparents immigrated from Sicily when they were in their teens. My father was raised never to draw attention to himself and to assimilate. The fact that we have not seen or heard from his family does not seem odd to me. I suspect that they're handling everything behind the scenes..
Yeah also from a partially Sicilian family and married into a full Sicilian family, and def. curious about the silence in that context.
He asked for a public defender, but when the hearing arrived, Dickey had already been hired. Dickey also postponed Luigi's transfer to NY so that they could choose a lawyer for him there... This defense is going to cost millions, so I think his family will be the ones paying. At first, Dickey said that Luigi would not accept the money from the fund, maybe he changed his mind to show that he accepts the public's support. Whenever a documentary about him comes out and no family or friends appear, I think it's great. That's how it should be.
Two of his close friends posted about how good he was: Tracy (who still comments on him on some TikTok accounts and Patrick, who captioned a photo saying "he's not a monster"). Showing up with a bunch of media on your back to spend 15 minutes in court doesn't seem reasonable to me. We'll only know for sure about the family's support when the trial starts.
I agree the trial will be the true test, it doesn’t make sense to put themselves thru it until then. I can understand no family at court yet or talking to press, I think there’s strong arguments for that at this point. It’s the total lack of any even generic support from anyone in the whole family I find more odd. Yes, I agree that it’s good they were not in the documentary. I’m saying I’m very suspicious of the people in the documentary, but especially those calling themselves his “family friend.”
🤷🏻♀️ Shock. They got him a new lawyer.
I am also a trial lawyer and have been drawn deeply into this case since day one. My thought on the family silence was that it was at the direction of his lawyers. I think that having a pained mother sitting behind Luigi in court would demolish his image as a hero/hunk/genius/victim. Unpredictable and emotional visible family support would serve to weaken him and dilute the power of his physicality and the lone wolf nature of the allegations. I think keeping the family away keeps the stranger support strong.
I think there is a strong argument for this, but it doesn’t answer the complete radio silence from every person who will not even say “praying for you.” To me, this is what is more strange. Also, a family like his, they would be able to control themselves in the court room. I agree that if I were KFA, I would be advising against talking to any press at all, but I’m not sure I would think zero family support at any hearing would be the right move. I can see the logic, but she has tried repeatedly thru emotional appeals to humanize him. Her whole thing to the judge every time has been to treat him like a normal human being. I think having his Mom or sister there would be something KFA would do, IF it were an option. It makes me wonder if it’s not an option bc the family is genuinely not supporting him. These are also just pre trial motion hearings so it’s also possible they are waiting until more substantive proceedings or the trial itself before going through the press gauntlet. That’s also very understandable to me. We shall see…
Exactly. Can't be a folk hero with a rich family's public support
2nd-gen Italian-American here! We have no idea what's going on behind the scenes within the Mangione family and they most likely want to keep it that way. They seem to understand that when relatives speak to the media, his legal team loses control of the narrative.
My guess is there's a Mangione family mandate to keep your mouth shut so his legal team can do their job, and keep the media story as focused and clean as possible. No new characters to invite public scrutiny. The optics of family support may seem like the *right* thing to do, but it certainly wouldn't be the most effective. Family members in the courtroom would be a distracting sideshow.
Plus, KFA is an excellent stand-in for the indignant and protective Italian American mother, and I think that was a big factor in placing her front and center on his team. (Aside from her being a badass lawyer.)
If anything, the family's solidarity in their silence is a testament to their discipline and strategic thinking. It's very tempting for some random cousin to cash in on 15 minutes of fame by speaking the media, but the Mangiones seem too smart for that.
We may not see them showing up for him, but bear in mind not one of them ratted him out when those cab driver pictures dropped.
I loved your first-person account of the hearing! Thanks so much for the work you're doing, I'm staying glued to your updates.
This is certainly a possible angle! 📐 the whole family is clearly on the same page, whatever the reason is. That’s my point…it’s one thing to decide not to talk to press or provide fodder by appearing at hearings. But to have everyone agree that no one will show any ounce of anything that could be interpreted as support, is what’s more odd to me. We actually have no idea who really “ratted him out” we have the story we’ve been given about some guy in a McDonald’s recognizing him and telling an employee who then calls the cops. Someone they won’t pay the reward money for some reason, lol. But a lot of these things would be in the search warrants and affidavits that have still not been turned over to his Defense team!
Yes! I wrote my comment before I read yours. 100%
You put it much more succinctly than I could 😂
Thank you for this information. I was unaware that his family has seemingly disowned him. I could never do that to my child, no matter what he did.