By Lola Fadulu
Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old man charged with murder in the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO, pleaded not guilty Monday as he was arraigned in New York state Supreme Court.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office has charged Mangione with first-degree murder, a terrorism-related offense, as well as two variations of second-degree murder and weapons charges. He faces the possibility of life in prison without parole on those charges.
Mangione also faces federal charges that could result in the death penalty: The Southern District of New York charged him with murder through use of a firearm, as well as two stalking counts and a firearms offense. He pleaded not guilty to those charges last week.
State prosecutors said in court filings that Mangione’s actions were meant to further terrorism and were “intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population” and to “affect the conduct of a unit of government by murder.” Appearing in court Monday, his lawyer argued that his case had been politicized and expressed concern that he would not receive a fair trial.
The state case is expected to go to trial before the federal one, said Edward Y. Kim, the acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District, and state prosecutors said they would coordinate with federal agencies.
Mangione entered the courtroom for his arraignment Monday wearing a maroon sweater and light-colored pants. His wrists and ankles were shackled. During the hearing, his lawyer, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, told the judge she was concerned about her client’s right to a fair trial. “His rights are being violated,” she said.
“He’s a young man, and he is being treated like a human pingpong ball between two warring jurisdictions,” she said, pointing to the federal and state cases and their differing arguments.
She also described Mangione’s perp walk after he was extradited to New York last week, during which he was accompanied by Mayor Eric Adams, as “absolutely unnecessary” and “utterly political.”
“What was the New York City mayor doing at this press conference?” she asked, adding that Adams, who faces bribery and fraud charges, “should know more than anyone about the presumption of innocence.”
She pointed to a number of statements Adams had made publicly about the case, including that he wanted to look Mangione in the eye and say “you carried out this terroristic act in my city.” Friedman Agnifilo noted that he had not used the word “alleged,” and that his statements could be heard by “future, potential jurors.”
Judge Gregory Carro responded that he had little control over what happened outside the courtroom but that he would guarantee that Mangione would receive a fair trial. “We will carefully select the jury,” Carro said.
Joel J. Seidemann, a prosecutor, took issue with the decision to repeat Adams’ words in court.
“I don’t know how that advances the ball,” he said. “We will comply with our ethical obligations with respect to trying this defendant’s guilt in this courtroom, in this courtroom alone.”
Mangione’s next appearance in state court is scheduled for Feb. 21.
The killing of CEO Brian Thompson renewed a debate about the American health care system. Many took to social media to voice their frustrations in their dealings with insurance companies and their practices of denying claims. Mangione became, to some, a folk hero.
Spectators had gathered on the street in 11 degree weather by 6 a.m., hoping to get into the courtroom. A small group of protesters could be seen outside before the hearing began, and it had grown slightly by the time it was over. Some of them chanted, “Free Luigi!”
One protester, Nicholas Zamudio, 33, held a sign that read: “United States Healthcare Stole My Livelihood. Prosecute Malicious Profiteers.” Zamudio, who lives in midtown Manhattan, described his experiences with the health care system as “atrocious” and said that the day Thompson was killed had been “a good day.”
Zamudio said he had had spinal fusion surgery for back problems and could not afford the injections and other treatments he needed after the operation. He pointed to how Mangione had written in Reddit posts about his own experience with spinal fusion surgery and his painful back issues.
“When he writes about things like not being able to lay down, not being able to sleep, that part resonates wwith me,” Zamudio said, adding that sometimes he can only sleep two to three hours a night. “You start losing your mind when that happens.”
Thompson was walking to the entrance of a Hilton hotel in midtown Manhattan on the morning of Dec. 4 for an investor meeting when a masked and hooded gunman opened fire behind him. He was shot once in the back and once in the leg.
Authorities have said it was Mangione who waited nearly an hour outside the hotel that morning and raised a 3D-printed 9 mm handgun fitted with a suppressor, known in generic terms as a silencer, and fired at Thompson.
Mangione was arrested after a five-day search. He was spotted eating hash browns at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, by a fellow customer who remarked to a friend that he looked like the person in photos that had been released by the New York Police Department. An employee overheard the conversation and alerted police.
He was found with a handgun, a suppressor, ammunition and a fake identification card, as well as a 262-word handwritten manifesto in which he appeared to take responsibility for the shooting, authorities said. The manifesto also indicated that he saw the killing as a direct challenge to the health care industry’s “corruption” and “power games.”
Mangione also faces five charges in Pennsylvania, including carrying a gun without a license, forgery, falsely identifying himself to authorities and possessing “instruments of crime,” according to a criminal complaint.
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