Excerpt:
Prosecutors highlighted “about $10,000 — $8,000 in U.S. dollars and then $2,000 in foreign currency that was found on his person,” CNN correspondent Danny Freeman said following the court hearing.
“Also they said that he had a Faraday bag,” which blocks cell signals, a move that prosecutors alleged marked “an indication of criminal sophistication and reason they should hold him on bail,” Freeman continued.
After prosecutors made the claims, Mangione said he would like to “correct two things.”
“I don’t know where any of that money came from — I’m not sure if it was planted. And also, that bag was waterproof, so I don’t know about criminal sophistication,” the suspect said in a statement that suggested police framed him.
Yeah, prosecutors are really trying to smear this guy to look dangerous. Try harder. An RF-blocking bag is just to prevent theft, hacking and protect privacy. I’m a bit confident he’s the guy but I can’t say beyond a reasonable doubt given the circumstances and how the police are incentivised to frame anyone.
Since news reports keep jumping around between a McDonald’s customer and a McDonald’s employee offering the tip, every inconsistency will only bolster this guy’s case. I can make guesses that this guy wanted to get caught or was a little sloppy, but if he says otherwise then finding everything including the gun is a little suspicious. Get him the best lawyer in the biz, I’m sure crowdfunding will cover it many times over.
I could be OOTL, but I’m a bit puzzled this isn’t happening at a massive scale given the overwhelming support. Anybody got his official Crowd Funding page or whatever you kids use these days?
The usual platforms have been racing to remove any crowdfunding pages for him.
I’m sure someone would do it Pro bono.