Luigi Mangione, suspect in the New York City assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, arrives with members of the NYPD at a helipad in New York City on December 19, 2024. Photo by STEPHANIE KEITH / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP
New York: The man accused of shooting a U.S. insurance executive in Manhattan – a killing that sparked widespread anger at America's health care system – appeared in a New York court on Thursday to face federal charges of murder, among other charges .
The charges against Luigi Mangione came hours after US television networks broadcast the 26-year-old's dramatic extradition by plane and helicopter from Pennsylvania, where he was arrested last week at a McDonald's restaurant.
Wearing shackles around his ankles, Mangione appeared before federal Judge Katharine Parker, who read the charges, including murder, stalking and firearms offenses, in connection with the Dec. 4 shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, according to a court spokesman.
Thompson's murder brought to the surface deep public frustration with the dysfunction and ills of the U.S.'s lucrative commercial health care system, and many social media users idolized Mangione.
Outside the courthouse in Manhattan, supporters held placards reading “Health before wealth” and “Luigi freed us.”
However, James Dennehy of the FBI's New York field office stressed that Magione's alleged actions amounted to a “carefully premeditated and targeted execution.”
“This alleged conspiracy demonstrates a cavalier attitude towards humanity – it sees murder as an appropriate means to assuage personal grievances.”
If convicted, Mangione could face the death penalty or life in prison, the US Department of Justice said.
State fees
The new federal charges expand the case against Ivy League graduate Mangione and come two days after New York prosecutors filed separate state charges against him, including a count of second-degree murder as an “act of terrorism.”
Mangioni's attorney, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, told reporters she was seeking clarity on how concurrent federal and state charges would work, calling the situation “highly unusual,” CNN reported.
According to CNN, Mangioni's lawyers also said they would not ask the court to release him on bail, at least for now.
To underline the extensive media attention the case has attracted, several television networks reported live from his journey from Pennsylvania to New York.
Wearing an orange prison jumpsuit, Mangione left the Pennsylvania courthouse in a black SUV, escorted by police vehicles.
After being flown to an airport outside New York City, he boarded a helicopter to Manhattan, where more than a dozen officers, some in tactical gear, were waiting to pick him up.
New York Mayor Eric Adams was among the officials who accompanied Mangione.
“This act of terrorism and the resulting violence will not be tolerated in this city,” Adams told reporters.
Health debate
Mangione was arrested Dec. 9 in Altoona, Pennsylvania, after a day-long manhunt following a tip from McDonald's restaurant staff.
Mangione traveled by bus from Atlanta to New York about 10 days before the crime, the Justice Department said. After checking into a Manhattan hostel using a false ID, he allegedly conducted reconnaissance tours near the victim's hotel and the conference venue where the shooting occurred.
Early on Dec. 4, Mangione chased Thompson, walked up behind him and fired several shots from a pistol with a silencer, the Justice Department said. Mangione then fled on his bicycle.
Thompson's killing was “a grossly misguided attempt to spread Mangione's views across the country,” said acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Edward Kim.
“But that wasn’t a debate, it was murder.”
Police say a “life-altering, life-altering” back injury may have motivated Mangione, even though there was “no indication” he was ever a UnitedHealthcare customer.
When he was arrested, Mangione had with him a three-page handwritten text criticizing the U.S. health care system, authorities said.
Reports that the shell casings of the bullets fired at Thompson bore the words “Depose, Deny, Delay” sparked horror stories on social media about health insurers allegedly using these very tactics to avoid paying for necessary medical care.
Such battles with ailing consumers are just one of the criticisms many have of a health care system that has also been criticized for mysterious billing practices, opaque middlemen, confusing jargon and expensive medications.
According to federal charges unsealed Thursday, a notebook found on Mangione included an entry from August that read, “The goal is insurance” because “it checks every box.”
