Luigi Mangione, the man suspected of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, has pleaded not guilty to state terror and murder charges in a Manhattan courtroom.
Mangione entered his plea during a Monday morning arraignment hearing. He faces 11 counts in New York, including first-degree murder in furtherance of terrorism, second-degree murder in furtherance of terrorism and multiple weapons offenses. The 26-year-old faces up to life in prison without parole if convicted.
In court, Mangione’s attorney Karen Agnifilo told Judge Gregory Carro she was concerned about getting her client a fair trial, CNN reports. She specifically cited New York City mayor Eric Adams’s presence among the several heavily armed officials who escorted Mangione as he was flown in from Pennsylvania, where he was arrested.
“They are literally treating him like he is some sort of political fodder, like some sort of spectacle,” Agnifilo said. “He was on display for everyone to see in the biggest stage perp walk I’ve ever seen in my career, it was absolutely unnecessary. He’s been cooperative with law enforcement...There was no reason for the NYPD and everybody to have these big assault rifles.”
“It was perfectly choreographed, and what was the New York City Mayor doing at this press conference, your honor? That just made it utterly political,” she continued.
Carro told Agnifilo, “We will carefully select a jury.” Mangione’s next court date is set for February 21.
Demonstrators gathered outside the Manhattan courtroom as officials escorted Mangione inside. Many held signs decrying the insurance industry, with phrases such as “Health over wealth”, and “UHC kills, death by denials”. Others supported Mangione with signs that read, “Free Luigi”.
Mangione is accused of killing Thomspon outside a Manhattan hotel on December 4. Police arrested him on December 9 in Altoona, Pennsylvania after they received a tip he was eating a meal inside a McDonald’s.
Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg previously called Thompson’s murder “frightening” and “well planned”.
“This was a killing that was intended to evoke terror and we’ve seen that reaction,” Bragg said last week. “This was not an ordinary killing. Not to suggest that any killing is ordinary, but this was extraordinary.”
Mangione was also charged at the federal level with murder through the use of a firearm, a gun offense and two counts of stalking. While New York does not have capital punishment, federal prosecutors could pursue the death penalty.
Agnifilo condemned the federal case last week.
“The federal government’s reported decision to pile on top of an already overcharged first-degree murder and state terror case is highly unusual and raises serious constitutional and statutory double jeopardy concerns,” she said in a statement. “We are ready to fight these charges in whatever court they are brought.”
In addition, he faces charges in Pennsylvania related to officials’ alleged discovery of a 3D-printed gun and fake ID cards in his possession when he was arrested. Police also say they found a silencer, a 262-word manifesto and a spiral notebook containing a “to-do list”.
Mangione struggled with police and shouted to reporters standing nearby as he was escorted into a Pennsylvania courtroom for his extradition hearing on December 10.
“It’s completely out of touch and an insult to the intelligence of the American people and their lived experience,” he yelled.
Mangione waived his extradition and was flown to New York on December 19.
Now, he is being held in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York. There, several other high-profile people are incarcerated, including former head of FTX Sam Bankman-Fried and Sean “Diddy” Combs, the rapper accused of sex trafficking and other crimes.
