Luigi Mangione, a suspect in the killing of UnitedHealth Group CEO Brian Thompson, walks during the day of his arraignment hearing in New York Supreme Court, U.S., December 23, 2024 in New York City.
Eduardo Muñoz | Reuters
Luigi Mangione, the man accused of fatally shooting health insurance executive Brian Thompson on a Manhattan street, pleaded not guilty Monday to New York state murder charges that branded him a terrorist.
Mangione, 26, was escorted to Judge Gregory Carro’s courtroom on the 13th floor of the New York State Criminal Court in lower Manhattan, holding a court officer in each arm, six Officials followed behind him. He was wearing handcuffs and shackles and a burgundy sweater over a white-collar shirt.
Mangione leaned into the microphone and said “not guilty” when asked to plead his case to the 11-count indictment, which includes three counts of murder as an act of terrorism.
If convicted, he faces up to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Mangione was transferred from Pennsylvania to New York last Thursday after deciding not to fight extradition. He was removed from a helicopter in lower Manhattan by a large group of police officers and New York Mayor Eric Adams.
Mangione’s attorney, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, said at the hearing that the scene and other statements by public officials suggested Mangione might not get a fair trial.
“They treated him like some kind of political fodder, some kind of spectacle,” Agnifilo said. “He was not a symbol, he was a human being who was entitled to a fair trial.”
Monday’s arraignment was Mangione, 26,’s second court appearance in New York.
Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, the insurance arm of UnitedHealth Group, was killed in public in the predawn hours of Dec. 4 outside a hotel in downtown Manhattan, five days after he was killed in Albany, Pa. An arrest was made at a McDonald’s restaurant in Altoona. Mangione also faces four federal criminal charges accusing him of stalking and killing Thompson. He has not yet been asked to enter a plea to the charges. U.S. Magistrate Judge Katharine Parker ordered Mangione detained on the charges during a Dec. 19 presentation.
On December 23, 2024, New York City, the United States, attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo testified against the murder of UnitedHealth Group CEO Brian Thompson in the New York Supreme Court The suspect in the case, Luigi Mangione, has an arraignment hearing.
Gina Moon | Reuters
“deny, defend, depose”
More than two dozen people sat in the gallery of the court where Mangione was tried. A small group of protesters gathered outside the lower Manhattan courthouse in freezing weather to express support for Mangione and anger against the health care company.
One man held a sign that read “Deny, Defend, Surrender,” words that police said were found on shell casings at the crime scene. The words echo tactics some accuse insurance companies of using to avoid paying claims. While Thompson’s killing was condemned by government officials, Mangione is considered a folk hero by some Americans who decried the high cost of medical care and the power of insurance companies to refuse to cover certain medical bills.
The federal charges would make him eligible for the death penalty if the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan decides to pursue the death penalty.
Separate federal and state cases will be heard in parallel. Federal prosecutors say the state case is now expected to go to trial first.
Mangione’s lead attorney, Friedman Agnifilo, told a federal court hearing that the two sets of charges appear to be based on conflicting theories. State charges accuse Mangione of intending to “terrorize or coerce civilians” and influence policy, while federal charges accuse him of stalking and killing individuals.
Friedman Agnifilo said the two cases appear to be completely different and she asked prosecutors to clarify whether the two cases will proceed. Federal prosecutor Dominic Gentile said Thursday’s initial court appearance was not the appropriate time to address those legal arguments.
According to the federal criminal complaint, police who arrested Mangione found a notebook containing several pages of handwriting that “expressed hostility toward the health insurance industry, particularly wealthy executives.”
Notebook entries from October 22 allegedly described an attempt to “attack” an insurance company’s CEO at an investor meeting.
Correction: An earlier version of this article has been updated to identify Brian Thompson as a top executive at UnitedHealth, not as CEO.
