Accused UnitedHealthcare CEO Mangione is fighting his release in New York | Crime News

Luigi Nicholas Mangione, 26, who is accused of shooting and killing United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson in an attack in Midtown Manhattan last week, has indicated that he will fight extradition to New York to face murder charges.

Mangione appeared in a Pennsylvania court on Tuesday, a day after he was arrested in the city of Altoona following a tip from a McDonald’s employee. He was charged with murdering Thompson’s New York hours after his arrest, as well as a slate of lesser charges in Pennsylvania.

Getting out of the police car, Mangione gave reporters an ambiguous message, although he referred to “an insult to the intelligence of the American people”.

In a brief hearing, defense attorney Thomas Dickey told the court that Mangione would oppose being extradited to New York, requesting a hearing on the matter. He has 14 days to file a legal challenge to be extradited to New York, and in the meantime, he will be held in Pennsylvania without bail.

In court, Mangione wore an orange prison jumpsuit, alternating between staring straight ahead, at documents and back at the gallery. He was silenced by his lawyer when he tried to speak.

The trial came six days after a gunman shot and killed Thompson, the head of the largest health insurance company in the United States, outside a hotel in Midtown Manhattan.

The nature of the attack – and the days-long manhunt – sparked a national conspiracy. Even as they condemn the violence, many experts, doctors and US citizens say it is a sign of the underground anger towards the health care industry, where high costs leave many patients vulnerable to claims by insurance companies.

Bullet shells found at the scene bore the words “deny”, “protect” and “demolish”, which appear to refer to a phrase used by critics to describe how health insurers avoid paying claims. The gunman fled on an electric bicycle to Central Park, and later, boarded a bus out of the city.

In the days since the attack, many have taken to social media to share accounts of insurance companies denying claims. The sentiment led authorities to arrest copycats, according to a law enforcement memo obtained by US media.

The White House has also weighed in.

“Obviously, this is alarming,” Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Tuesday. “Violence to fight any form of corporate greed is unacceptable.”

More details are emerging

The law enforcement memo, which was based on Mangione’s documents, some of which were obtained during his arrest, said Mangione may have been motivated by what he described as “dumb” health insurance companies and a lack of respect for corporate greed.

Authorities say a 3D printed gun, a suppressor and a fake ID, believed to have been used by the attacker to check into a New York hostel before the shooting, were found when Mangione was arrested.

According to the memo, Mangione had written that the US has the most expensive health care system in the world and that corporate profits continue to rise while our “life expectancy” does not.

The document added that Mangione may have been inspired by the so-called “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski, whom he called a “political revolutionary”. Kaczynski carried out a series of bombasts from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s insulting modern society, technology and the destruction of the environment. His attack killed three.

The profile that has emerged since Mangione’s arrest is also similar to that of Kaczynski, who was considered a master mathematician.

Mangione comes from an influential family in Baltimore, Maryland, and was valedictorian at a Baltimore prep school. He went on to earn an undergraduate and graduate degree in computer science in 2020 from the University of Pennsylvania, a prestigious Ivy League school.

Known to be sympathetic and intelligent, some of his friends shared in interviews with American media that Mangione’s condition changed after recent spinal surgery.

“Our family is shocked and saddened by Luigi’s arrest,” Mangione’s family said in a statement posted on social media Monday night by his cousin, Delaware state legislator Nino Mangione.

“We’re praying for Brian Thompson’s family, and we’re asking people to pray for everyone involved.”