Brandon Sutton stood in line for six hours — from 1:45 a.m. till 7:45 a.m. Friday — to safe a spot within the courtroom for Luigi Mangione’s trial.
“It was freezing chilly, ladies have been making an attempt to chop in line,” Sutton, 49, of Brownsville, informed The Submit.
“There’s like a Ted Bundy impact on individuals,” he stated, likening Mangione to the infamous Seventies serial killer.
However Sutton didn’t climate this morning’s frigid temperatures and predawn darkness for his personal sake.
As knowledgeable line-sitter, Sutton, alongside two colleagues, Tim and Brian, sacrificed snugness and sleep for a Mangione-crazed feminine consumer.
The nameless gal paid them $25 an hour to attain her a major spot in line for one of many Manhattan Supreme Courtroom seats open to the general public as Mangione, 26, is on trial for allegedly killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on Dec. 4 outdoors of a Midtown resort.
And entry to the courtroom showdown is at the moment the most well liked ticket on the town.
Sutton and his coworkers, soldier-like staffers of Similar Ole Line Dudes, a Brooklyn-based model providing line-sitting companies throughout the boroughs, refused to disclose the identification of their consumer.
And, in line with SOLD proprietor, Robert Samuel, his employees of over 40 pro-waiters by no means publicly identify names — not even the bell-ringing names of their billionaire patrons.
With sealed lips and chattering enamel, the trio spent the wee hours of the day shivering among the many expansive line of Mangione admirers.
He and his co-sitters secured the second slot in line. They have been stationed behind an excessive devotee who beat out the specialists for the first-place place. Simply earlier than 9:00 a.m., The Submit witnessed their consumer come to assert her spot, relieving the dudes of their duties.
Flocks and flocks of feminine followers, all fawning over the detainee’s chiseled cheeks and steely stare, swarmed the courthouse in help of the person social media’s dubbed the “sizzling murderer.”
Some standing in solidarity with the alleged shooter wore maroon-colored tops — the identical hue Mangione infamously sported throughout his arraignment late final 12 months.
Others, nevertheless, opted for rather more overt outerwear, proudly donning “Free Luigi” garb in protest of his pending imprisonment.
“It’s like they worship him,” stated Sutton, referring to the gaggle of Mangione’s starry-eyed gals, a few of whom have contributed charitable funds in the direction of the $300,000 raised by zealots to cowl his prison protection charges.
However in the course of the shift, the threesome tried to not listen in on an excessive amount of of the Mangione reward.
Turning a deaf ear to line chit-chat has turn into an occupational should for line-sitters like Sutton, who’s often tapped by Higher East Siders to face in strains for high-end vogue gross sales or visiting foodies determined for hard-to-get tables at new eating places.
He even stood in line for 12 hours each day for a month throughout President Trump’s “hush cash” trial in spring 2024.
“I strive to not pay attention and I select to not get into political arguments,” he stated, including, that there’s usually been a way of camaraderie amongst the parents ready in lengthy strains.
For fast meals or lavatory breaks, he both faucets a fellow SOLD sitter to carry his spot in line or asks the strangers to his entrance and rear in the event that they’d graciously enable him to step away for about quarter-hour.
“Working the Trump trial wasn’t too unhealthy,” stated Sutton, who earned a cool $7,000 for the prolonged gig. “I’m simply glad I didn’t see the particular person set themselves on hearth.”
Regardless of the drama and trauma that always comes with standing in a few of NYC’s longest strains, the ready whiz merely loves the gig.
“I’m serving the group in a really particular manner,” stated Sutton. “I like seeing the grins of happy shoppers.”
“And, with main course circumstances like [Mangione’s], I get to be part of historical past.”
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