As the prosecution progresses for Luigi Mangione, the Towson man accused of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, displays of support continue to pour in.

Prosecutors said in court documents this week that a heart-shaped note offering encouraging words for Mangione was tucked into a pair of socks packed for him to wear to court last month. A court officer intercepted the notes after Mangione’s attorneys “inadvertently did not see that there were two heart-shaped notes contained within the socks.”

The note — plus another heart-shaped message addressed to someone called “Joan” — was hidden in a piece of cardboard in a new pair of argyle socks, prosecutor Joel Seidemann wrote, responding to recent requests from Mangione’s defense lawyers. It’s unclear who wrote the note or slipped it into the socks.

“We are rooting for you!” one of the notes said. “Keep your head held high & know there are thousands of people wishing you luck”

Mangione, 26, appeared in court in February in New York, where he faces federal and state charges in connection with Thompson’s death. The 2016 Gilman valedictorian is charged with multiple counts of murder, including murder as an act of terrorism. He has pleaded not guilty.

The University of Pennsylvania graduate has attracted a cult following as a stand-in for frustrations over health insurance coverage denials and hefty medical bills, and dozens of his supporters showed up for the hearing. One sported a green “Luigi” hat from the “Mario Bros.” video game franchise and many wore green, the Luigi character’s color, as a symbol of solidarity.

Mangione also wore a green sweater, “consistent with what his sympathizers were calling for supporters to wear,” Seidemann noted.

Karen Friedman Agnifilo, an attorney for Mangione, said prosecutors highlighted the note as another attempt to “leak” information in the case and “deflect attention from counsel’s reasonable and standard requests for discovery the prosecutors are withholding.” Agnifilo alleges Mangione’s team does not have access to all of the necessary evidence against him.

Earlier this week, attorneys for Mangione requested that he have access to a laptop while in federal custody to review documents and other material related to his case, according to a court filing Monday in the Supreme Court of New York. Without a laptop, counsel would have to print out more than 15,000 pages of discovery for Mangione to keep in his cell pending his trial, his attorneys said.

“The District Attorney raises this ‘incident’ now to ‘make the Court aware of how the special treatment to the defendant’s benefit was violated when the People made accommodations for the defendant’s fashion needs during the last court appearance,'” Agnifilo wrote in court documents filed Wednesday. “As the District Attorney’s Office well knows, allowing an incarcerated defendant to wear normal clothing at a court appearance is not ‘special treatment’ or an ‘accommodation’ for the defendant’s fashion needs, as this accommodation is made to many incarcerated defendants.”

Prosecutors said they will not consent to a personal laptop at this time due to the sensitive nature of many of the documents and alleged threats made to witnesses in the case.

Mangione’s counsel noted that many other federal inmates at the prison are provided laptops to review their discovery. In those cases, counsel obtains a laptop and provides it to an approved vendor for modifications in compliance with the prison’s regulations by disabling the laptop’s connections to the internet, printers, wireless networks, games and entertainment programs.

Mangione’s legal team declined to comment, referring all questions to the latest court filing. During a hearing on Thursday, New York State Supreme Court Judge Gregory Carro had no objection to Mangione being provided with a laptop to view discovery if the federal authorities permit it.

Mangione’s next federal court hearing is scheduled for April 18. He is set to make another appearance in state court in June.

Associated Press contributed to this article. Have a news tip? Contact Todd Karpovich at tkarpovich@baltsun.com or on X as @ToddKarpovich.