ALTOONA, Pa. –
The person accused of killing UnitedHealthcare’s CEO struggled with deputies and shouted whereas being led into court docket Tuesday as new particulars emerged about his potential motivation behind the ambush.
In his first public phrases since a five-day search ended together with his arrest at a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania, Luigi Nicholas Mangione emerged from a patrol automotive shouting about an “insult to the intelligence of the American individuals” whereas deputies pushed him inside a courthouse.
The 26-year-old Ivy League graduate from a distinguished Maryland actual property household is combating makes an attempt to extradite him to New York in order that he can face a homicide cost within the Manhattan killing of Brian Thompson, who led the US’ largest medical insurance coverage firm.
A legislation enforcement bulletin obtained by The Related Press stated that on the time of his arrest, Mangione was carrying a handwritten doc expressing anger with what he referred to as “parasitic” medical insurance corporations and a disdain for company greed and energy.
He wrote that the U.S. has the most costly well being care system on the earth and that income of main companies proceed to rise whereas “our life expectancy” doesn’t, in line with the bulletin.
In social media posts, Mangione referred to as “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski — who carried out a sequence of bombings whereas railing towards fashionable society and know-how — a “political revolutionary,” in line with the police bulletin.
This combo picture launched by Pennsylvania State Police reveals Luigi Mangione at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pa., Monday, Dec. 9, 2024. (Pennsylvania State Police by way of AP)
Mangione remained jailed in Pennsylvania, the place he was initially charged with possession of an unlicensed firearm, forgery and offering false identification to police.
Manhattan prosecutors had been starting to take steps to convey Mangione to New York, however at a short listening to Tuesday, protection lawyer Thomas Dickey stated his shopper won’t waive extradition and as an alternative desires a listening to on the difficulty. Mangione was denied bail after prosecutors stated he was too harmful to be launched.
He largely stared straight forward on the listening to, often papers, rocking in his chair or trying again on the gallery. At one level, he started to talk to answer the court docket dialogue however was quieted by his lawyer.
“You’ll be able to’t rush to judgment on this case or any case,” Dickey stated afterward. “He’s presumed harmless. Let’s not neglect that.”
Mangione was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 230 miles (about 370 kilometres) west of New York Metropolis, after a McDonald’s buyer acknowledged him and notified an worker, authorities stated.
Photos of Mangione launched Tuesday by Pennsylvania State Police confirmed him knocking down his masks within the nook of the McDonald’s whereas holding what seemed to be hash browns and carrying a winter jacket and beanie. In one other picture from a holding cell, he stood unsmiling with rumpled hair.
New York police officers have stated Mangione was carrying a gun just like the one used to kill Thompson and the identical pretend ID the shooter had used to test right into a New York hostel, together with a passport and different fraudulent IDs.
A legislation enforcement official who wasn’t licensed to debate the investigation publicly and spoke with The Related Press on situation of anonymity stated a three-page, handwritten doc discovered with Mangione included a line by which he claimed to have acted alone.
“To the Feds, I’ll preserve this brief, as a result of I do respect what you do for our nation. To avoid wasting you a prolonged investigation, I state plainly that I wasn’t working with anybody,” the doc stated, in line with the official.
It additionally stated, “I do apologize for any strife or traumas nevertheless it needed to be achieved. Frankly, these parasites merely had it coming.”
Thompson, 50, was killed final Wednesday as he walked alone to a Manhattan lodge for an investor convention. From surveillance video, New York investigators decided the shooter rapidly fled town, doubtless by bus.
Mangione was born into a lifetime of nation golf equipment and privilege. His grandfather was a self-made actual property developer and philanthropist.
Valedictorian at his elite Baltimore prep faculty, he went on to earn undergraduate and graduate levels in pc science in 2020 from the College of Pennsylvania, a spokesperson stated.
“Our household is shocked and devastated by Luigi’s arrest,” Mangione’s household stated in an announcement posted on social media late Monday by his cousin, Maryland Del. Nino Mangione. “We provide our prayers to the household of Brian Thompson and we ask individuals to wish for all concerned.”
From January to June 2022, Luigi Mangione lived at Surfbreak, a “co-living” area on the fringe of touristy Waikiki in Honolulu.
Like different residents of the shared penthouse catering to distant staff, Mangione underwent a background test, stated Josiah Ryan, a spokesperson for proprietor and founder R.J. Martin.
“Luigi was simply broadly thought-about to be an excellent man. There have been no complaints,” Ryan stated. “There was no signal which may level to those alleged crimes they’re saying he dedicated.”
At Surfbreak, Martin discovered Mangione had extreme again ache from childhood that interfered with many facets of his life, from browsing to romance, Ryan stated.
Mangione left Surfbreak to get surgical procedure on the mainland, Ryan stated, then later returned to Honolulu and rented an house.
Martin stopped listening to from Mangione six months to a yr in the past.
Scolforo reported from Altoona and Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania. Contributing had been Related Press writers Cedar Attanasio and Jennifer Peltz in New York; Michael Rubinkam and Maryclaire Dale in Pennsylvania; Lea Skene in Baltimore; Jennifer Sinco Kelleher in Honolulu and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio.