The Latest: UnitedHealthcare shooting suspect contests his extradition back to New York
New York Police officers arrive at Altoona Police Department, where a man with a gun thought to be similar to the one used in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson has been taken into police custody for questioning, Monday, Dec. 9, 2024, in Altoona, Pa. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)[ASSOCIATED PRESS/Gene J. Puskar]
Manhattan police have obtained a warrant for the arrest of 26-year-old Luigi Nicholas Mangione, suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEOBrian Thompson. Mangione was arrested at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, while carrying a gun, mask and writings linking him to the ambush.
Mangione is being held without bail in Pennsylvania on charges of possession of an unlicensed firearm, forgery and providing false identification to police. Late Monday, Manhattan prosecutors charged him with five counts, including murder, criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of a forged instrument.
Here’s the latest:
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre says “violence to combat any sort of corporate greed is unacceptable” and the White House will “continue to condemn any form of violence.”
This booking photo released Monday, Dec. 9, 2024, by the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections shows Luigi Mangione, a suspect in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. (Pennsylvania Department of Corrections via AP)
Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS
She declined to comment on the investigation into the Dec. 4 shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson or reports that writings belonging to the suspect, Luigi Mangione, said insurance companies care more about profits than their customers.
“This is horrific,” Jean-Pierre said of the fatal shooting of Thompson as he walked in Manhattan.
He didn’t appear to say anything as deputies led him to a waiting car outside.
“I’m deeply grateful to the men and women of law enforcement whose efforts to solve the horrific murder of Brian Thompson led to the arrest of a suspect in Pennsylvania,” Gov. Hochul said in the statement. “I am coordinating with the District Attorney’s Office and will sign a request for a governor’s warrant to ensure this individual is tried and held accountable. Public safety is my top priority and I’ll do everything in my power to keep the streets of New York safe.”
That’s according to a spokesperson for the governor who said Gov. Hochul will do it as soon as possible.
Luigi Nicholas Mangione, the suspect in the fatal shooting of a healthcare executive in New York City, apparently was living a charmed life: the grandson of a wealthy real estate developer, valedictorian of his elite Baltimore prep school and with degrees from one of the nation’s top private universities.
Friends at an exclusive co-living space at the edge of touristy Waikiki in Hawaii where the 26-year-old Mangione once lived widely considered him a “great guy,” and pictures on his social media accounts show a fit, smiling, handsome young man on beaches and at parties.
Now, investigators in New York and Pennsylvania are working to piece together why Mangione may have diverged from this path to make the violent and radical decision to gun down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in a brazen attack on a Manhattan street.
The killing sparked widespread discussions about corporate greed, unfairness in the medical insurance industry and even inspired folk-hero sentiment toward his killer.
▶ Read more about Luigi Mangione
Peter Weeks, the Blair County district attorney, says he’ll work with New York officials to try to return suspect Luigi Mangione there to face charges.
Weeks said the New York charges are “more serious” than in Blair County.
“We believe their charges take precedent,” Weeks said, promising to do what’s needed to accommodate New York’s prosecution first.
Weeks spoke to reporters after a brief hearing at which a defense lawyer said Mangione will fight extradition. The defense asked for a hearing on the issue. In the meantime, Mangione will be detained at a state prison in western Pennsylvania.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office said Tuesday it will seek a Governor’s warrant to secure Mangione’s extradition to Manhattan.
Under state law, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul can issue a warrant of arrest demanding Mangione’s return to the state. Such a warrant must recite the facts necessary to the validity of its issuance and be sealed with the state seal. It would then be presented to law enforcement in Pennsylvania to expedite Mangione’s return to New York.
But Blair County District Attorney Peter Weeks says it won’t be a substantial barrier to returning Mangione to New York.
He noted that defendants contest extradition “all the time,” including in simple retail theft cases.
Dickey, his defense lawyer, questioned whether the second-degree murder charge filed in New York might be eligible for bail under Pennsylvania law, but prosecutors raised concerns about both public safety and Mangione being a potential flight risk, and the judge denied it.
Mangione will continue to be housed at a state prison in Huntingdon.
He has 14 days to challenge the detention.
Prosecutors, meanwhile, have a month to seek a governor’s warrant out of New York.
Mangione, wearing an orange jumpsuit, mostly stared straight ahead at the hearing, occasionally consulting papers, rocking in his chair, or looking back at the gallery.
At one point, he began to speak to respond to the court discussion, but was quieted by his lawyer.
Luigi Mangione, 26, has also been denied bail at a brief court hearing in western Pennsylvania. He has 14 days to challenge the bail decision.
That’s with some intervention from owner Elon Musk.
The account, which hasn’t posted since June, was briefly suspended by X. But after a user inquired about it in a post Monday, Musk responded “This happened without my knowledge. Looking into it.” The account was later reinstated.
Other social media companies such as Meta have removed his accounts. According to X rules, the platform removes “any accounts maintained by individual perpetrators of terrorist, violent extremist, or mass violent attacks, as well as any accounts glorifying the perpetrator(s), or dedicated to sharing manifestos and/or third party links where related content is hosted.”
Mangione is not accused of perpetrating a terrorist or mass attack — he has been charged with murder — and his account doesn’t appear to share any writings about the case.
He shouted something that was partly unintelligible, but referred to an “insult to the intelligence of the American people.”
He’s there for an arraignment on local charges stemming from his arrest Monday.
He was dressed in an orange jumpsuit as officers led him from a vehicle into the courthouse.
Local defense lawyer Thomas Dickey is expected to represent the 26-year-old at a Tuesday afternoon hearing at the Blair County Courthouse. Dickey declined comment before the hearing.
Mangione could have the Pennsylvania charges read aloud to him and may be asked to enter a plea.
They include possession of an unlicensed firearm, forgery and providing false identification to police. In New York, he was charged late Monday with murder in the death of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO Brian Thompson.
Mangione likely was motivated by his anger with what he called “parasitic” health insurance companies and a disdain with corporate greed, said a a law enforcement bulletin obtained by The Associated Press.
He wrote that the U.S. has the most expensive healthcare system in the world and that the profits of major corporations continue to rise while “our life expectancy” does not, according to the bulletin, based on a review of the suspect’s hand-written notes and social media postings.
He appeared to view the targeted killing of the UnitedHealthcare CEO as a symbolic takedown, asserting in his note that he is the “first to face it with such brutal honesty,” the bulletin said.
Mangione called “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski a “political revolutionary” and may have found inspiration from the man who carried out a series of bombings while railing against modern society and technology, the document said.
A felony warrant filed in New York cites Altoona Officer Christy Wasser as saying she found the writings along with a semi-automatic pistol and an apparent silencer.
The filing echoes earlier statements from NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny who said Mangione had a three-page, handwritten document that shows “some ill will toward corporate America.”
Mangione is now charged in Pennsylvania with being a fugitive of justice.
A customer at the McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, where Mangione was arrested said one of his friends had commented beforehand that the man looked like the suspect wanted for the shooting in New York City.
“It started out almost a little bit like a joke, my one friend thought he looked like the shooter,” said the customer, who declined to give his full name, on Tuesday.
“It wasn’t really a joke, but we laughed about it,” he added.
The warrant on murder and other charges is a step that could help expedite his extradition from Pennsylvania.
In court papers made public Tuesday, a New York City police detective reiterated key findings in the investigation he said tied Mangione to the killing, including surveillance footage and a fake ID he used to check into a Manhattan hostel on Nov. 24.
Police officers in Altoona, Pennsylvania, found that ID when they arrested Mangione on Monday.
Mangione is being held without bail in Pennsylvania on charges of possession of an unlicensed firearm, forgery and providing false identification to police. Late Monday, Manhattan prosecutors charged him with five counts, including murder, criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of a forged instrument.
Mangione doesn’t yet have a lawyer who can speak on his behalf, court officials said.
Images of Mangione released Tuesday by Pennsylvania State Police showed him pulling down his mask in the corner of the McDonald’s while holding what appeared to be hash browns and wearing a winter jacket and ski cap. In another photo from a holding cell, he stood unsmiling with rumpled hair.
Mangione’s cousin, Maryland lawmaker Nino Mangione, announced Tuesday morning that he’s postponing a fundraiser planned later this week at the Hayfields Country Club north of Baltimore, which was purchased by the Mangione family in 1986.
“Because of the nature of this terrible situation involving my Cousin I do not believe it is appropriate to hold my fundraising event scheduled for this Thursday at Hayfields,” Nino Mangione said in a social media post. “I want to thank you for your thoughts, prayers, and support. My family and I are heartbroken and ask that you remember the family of Mr. Thompson in your prayers. Thank you.”
Officers used New York City’s muscular surveillance system. Investigators analyzed DNA samples, fingerprints and internet addresses. Police went door to door looking for witnesses.
When an arrest came five days later, those sprawling investigative efforts shared credit with an alert civilian’s instincts. A customer at a McDonald’s restaurant in Pennsylvania noticed another patron who resembled the man in the oblique security-camera photos New York police had publicized.
He remains jailed in Pennsylvania, where he was initially charged with possession of an unlicensed firearm, forgery and providing false identification to police. By late Monday evening, prosecutors in Manhattan had added a charge of murder, according to an online court docket.
It’s unclear whether Luigi Nicholas Mangione has an attorney who can comment on the allegations. Asked at Monday’s arraignment whether he needed a public defender, Mangione asked whether he could “answer that at a future date.”
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