2 weeks Ago By Elisabeth Garber-Paul
The 26-year-old man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson will fight extradition to New York , where he faces a murder charge. Luigi Mangione appeared Tuesday afternoon at the Blair County Courthouse in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, for an extradition hearing regarding charges he faces in New York for gunning down Thompson last week in Midtown Manhattan. “He is contesting it,” Mangione’s attorney, Thomas Dickey, said, according to the New York Times .
During the hearing, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office released a statement saying it would seek a governor’s warrant to secure Mangione’s extradition. Dickey did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone ’s request for comment. At the hearing, the judge also denied bail to Mangione, CNN reported.
Earlier Tuesday afternoon, cameras showed Mangione arriving at court in an orange jumpsuit and shouting over his shoulder to reporters as he was led inside. In video footage shared on X , he appears to be saying, “Completely out of touch, and an insult to the intelligence of the American people and their lived experience.” When Mangione was arrested on Monday, police recovered a “ handwritten document ” expressing “ill will toward corporate America,” police said.
In the manifesto, Mangione made “some indication that he’s frustrated with the health care system in the United States,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said Tuesday on Good Morning America. “Specifically, he states how we are the number-one most expensive health care system in the world, yet the life expectancy of an American is ranked 42 in the world. So he was writing a lot about his disdain for corporate America, and in particular the healthcare industry.
” In New York, Mangione faces one count of second-degree murder in Thompson’s death. Authorities allege that around 6:44 a.m.
on Dec. 4, he approached Thompson, 50, from behind outside the Hilton hotel on Avenue of the Americas and shot him several times, causing him to collapse to the ground. The gunman used a silencer on his weapon, authorities said.
Ammunition found near Thompson’s body had words including “delay,” “deny,” and “depose,” written on it. The words echo Delay, Deny, Defend, the title of a 2010 book criticizing the insurance industry. Editor’s picks The 100 Best TV Episodes of All Time The 250 Greatest Guitarists of All Time Mangione has also been charged in New York with three counts of criminal possession of a weapon, and a count of criminal possession of a forged instrument.
Police believe the gun Mangione allegedly used to shoot Thompson multiple times was a “ ghost gun ” capable of firing a 9 mm round, New York Police Department Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said at a press conference on Monday. This refers to firearms typically assembled by the owner at home, rendering them untraceable compared to a traditionally manufactured gun. Kenny added that the gun in this case may have been made on a 3D printer.
After allegedly fleeing New York, Mangione was arrested at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, where officers responded to a report of a “suspicious male” who looked like the person being sought in the New York shooting. Pennsylvania authorities charged him with carrying firearms without a license, possessing instruments of a crime, falsely identifying himself to law enforcement, tampering with records or identification, and forgery. According to a criminal complaint obtained by Rolling Stone , the Altoona Police Department officers who arrested Mangione searched his backpack and found a black 3D-printed pistol and a black 3D-printed silencer.
The pistol, the complaint said, had “one loaded Glock magazine with six nine-millimeter full metal jacket rounds.”.
