Reactions to Luigi Mangione's guilty plea – at a glance
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Brian Thompson’s family called the plea “an important step toward justice”. “Now we look to the court to ensure that sentencing reflects the severity of this crime,” the family said in a statement. “We remain mindful that additional proceedings in New York and Pennsylvania are still to come, and we will continue to seek the justice Brian deserves.
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Meanwhile, Luigi Mangione’s defense team filed a motion to have the state murder case dismissed on double jeopardy grounds, one of his attorney’s, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, told reporters outside the courthouse. She said Mangione had been “unfairly treated since the outset” and was “being prosecuted twice for the same conduct”. “Today’s guilty plea triggers [New York’s state’s double jeopardy] statue and we just filed our motion in state court explaining why the state charges must be dismissed under the state’s double jeopardy protections,” she said.
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The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said, “We are encouraged that Mr. Thompson’s family received a measure of accountability today.” It added that it is “prepared to litigate the defense motions”.
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Jamie McDonald, the US attorney for the southern district of New York, told reporters that his office does not have a plea agreement with Mangione and said that it would seek the maximum sentence of life in prison. He added that “there can be no celebrity in assassination”, and that “any person who celebrates, encourages or excuses actions like these is fundamentally wrong ... Violence is not a legitimate instrument to promote any political or social message.”
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UnitedHealth Group - UnitedHealthcare’s parent company - said: “Brian Thompson’s life was cut short by an act of violence that devastated everyone who knew and loved him. We are grateful to law enforcement for bringing Brian’s murderer to justice, and our thoughts remain with Brian’s family and loved ones during this difficult time.”
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UnitedHealth Group - UnitedHealthcare’s parent company - has issued this statement.
Brian Thompson’s life was cut short by an act of violence that devastated everyone who knew and loved him. We are grateful to law enforcement for bringing Brian’s murderer to justice, and our thoughts remain with Brian’s family and loved ones during this difficult time.
Jamie McDonald, the US attorney for the southern district of New York, told reporters that his office does not have a plea agreement with Mangione and said that it would seek the maximum sentence of life in prison.
He said outside the courthouse:
Now [Mangione] stands convicted in federal court and faces life in prison … While the defendant pleaded guilty, our office does not have a plea agreement with him. Instead, he pleaded open, which means he pleaded guilty to all pending counts in the indictment. There are no accommodations or concessions, and we are free to seek the maximum penalty under the law … The results achieved today now allow our office to seek the maximum penalty allowed — life imprisonment.
McDonald also said, “There can be no celebrity in assassination.”
“Any person who celebrates, encourages or excuses actions like these is fundamentally wrong,” he said. “Violence is not a legitimate instrument to promote any political or social message.”
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The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office released this statement.
Since December 2024, the Manhattan D.A.’s Office has been tirelessly preparing to pursue a trial conviction in New York State Supreme Court for the alleged cold-blooded murder of Brian Thompson. We are encouraged that Mr. Thompson’s family received a measure of accountability today.
While federal sentencing is pending, we are prepared to litigate the defense motions. The Manhattan D.A.’s Office remains committed to seeking justice for Mr. Thompson and his family.
NYPD commissioner: 'Murder is not a message, and a killer is certainly not a hero'
Also speaking outside the courthouse following the guilty plea, NYPD commissioner Jessica Tisch hailed this as “an important moment of accountability” in Brian Thompson’s killing.
“My thoughts remain first and foremost with Mr. Thompson’s family and everyone who knew and loved him,” she said, and also commended the “extraordinary police work that brought us here”.
She ended her statement with this message:
And to those who idolize Luigi Mangione, I say this: Violence is not a cause. Murder is not a message, and a killer is certainly not a hero.
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Mangione's defense team file motion to dismiss state murder case on double jeopardy grounds, lawyer says
Following Luigi Mangione’s guilty plea in the federal case against him, his defense team has just filed a motion in state court, triggering double jeopardy to dismiss the state murder case, one of his attorney’s Karen Friedman Agnifilo told reporters outside the courthouse. The state trial is set for 8 September.
Here are Friedman Agnifilo’s full comments:
With today’s guilty plea, Mr Mangione has accepted full responsibility for the death of Brian Thompson.
It was a single tragic event, yet he’s being prosecuted twice for the same conduct.
As Luigi explained in court today, he endured years of severe, debilitating pain following a broken back, while struggling to navigate our healthcare and health insurance systems.
Like the thousands of people who have reached out since this tragedy to share their own experiences, he believed that the system had failed him and destroyed his life.
Despite this being a single isolated event, Mr Mangione has been unfairly treated since the outset in every way, and have successfully fought off terrorism charges and the death penalty, while also fighting at the same time two simultaneous prosecutions in two jurisdictions, who are punish him twice for the exact conduct.
He’s been treated differently from every other defendant charged with this offence in New York. However, thankfully, New York law does not … permit a person to be prosecuted and punished twice for the exact same crime ... It’s also known as the double jeopardy law.
Today’s guilty plea triggers this statue and we just filed our motion in state court explaining why the state charges must be dismissed under the state’s double jeopardy protections.
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The scene outside the courthouse.
Thompson's family calls plea 'an important step toward justice'
Brian Thompson’s family has issued this statement.
Today’s guilty plea marks an important step toward justice for Brian and for our family. While nothing will ease the pain of losing him, we are grateful that the federal justice system has held the person responsible for this heinous act accountable. Now we look to the court to ensure that sentencing reflects the severity of this crime. We remain mindful that additional proceedings in New York and Pennsylvania are still to come, and we will continue to seek the justice Brian deserves.
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Luigi Mangione pleads guilty on federal charges - key points at a glance
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Luigi Mangione has pleaded guilty to federal stalking charges in the 2024 killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, telling the judge: “I shot Mr Thompson in Manhattan and he died.”
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Mangione said that “after years of enduring severe back pain, a broken back, navigating the obstacles of the health system,” he learned that UnitedHealthcare would be holding it’s annual investor convergence in December 2024. The location was not public but he traveled to New York City and emailed UnitedHealthcare leadership, posing as an institutional investor, to get more information, getting a response within an hour.
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He also researched who would be attending. Mangione then said he printed a gun with a 3-D printer and affixed it with a silencer. “I shot Mr Thompson in Manhattan and he died,” he continued. “When I did so, I understood that my actions would place him in fear of death or serious bodily injury. I knew what I was doing was illegal.”
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Judge Margaret Garnett accepted the plea and will sentence Mangione on 18 December. Mangione’s lawyer also confirmed to the judge that there is no plea agreement with the government. He will remain in federal custody as he awaits sentencing. He faces life in prison.
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Mangione, 28, entered the plea at a hastily scheduled hearing in Manhattan federal court this morning, resolving one of two cases against him in connection with Thompson’s killing. With this guilty plea, his lawyers could seek to have the state case – for which he has pleaded not guilty to murder and is scheduled to go on trial next month – thrown out on double jeopardy grounds.
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at the courthouse in Manhattan
And court is adjourned.
Mangione has stood. He’s being escorted out of the courtroom by Marshals.
Judge Garnett sets Mangione’s sentencing for 18 December.
Mangione pleads guilty to both counts of federal indictment
at the courthouse in Manhattan
Judge Garnett now asks: “Mr Mangione how do you now plea to counts 1 and 2 in the indictment?”
“Guilty,” he said matter-of-factly.
Garnett, saying she found him competent and able to enter a plea, goes on: “I will accept your guilty plea and enter a judgment of guilty on counts one and two in the indictment.”
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at the courthouse in Manhattan
Mangione’s allocution is done and the prosecution is now going over what evidence it would have presented at trial; they’re now saying some of the evidence includes video of the shooting.
Mangione tells court: 'I shot Mr Thompson in Manhattan and he died'
at the courthouse in Manhattan
Mangione said that he endured physical pain for years.
“I shot Mr Thompson in Manhattan and he died,” he continued.
“When I did so, I understood that my actions would place him in fear of death or serious bodily injury,” he said. “I knew what I was doing was illegal.”
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at the courthouse in Manhattan
Mangione is allocuting.
at the courthouse in Manhattan
The judge reveals there is no plea deal. Instead, the government has filed a letter saying what they believe an appropriate sentence should be.
Garnett said: “The government indicates that it believes the applicable sentencing range … 292 to 365 months of imprisonment.”
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at the courthouse in Manhattan
Judge Garnett, still going through the questions, mentions Mangione’s state case. “You should understand that if you are convicted and receive a sentence in that case, your sentences could be consecutive …. do you understand that?”
Mangione says, “Yes.”
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at the courthouse in Manhattan
As the proceeding continues, Judge Garnett is going over the legal ramifications if Mangione does plead guilty. “The total maximum term of imprisonment for these crimes is life in prison,” she says. Mangione says he understands possible penalties.
at the courthouse in Manhattan
Judge Garnett asks: “Mr Mangione, are you willing to give up your right to a trial and the other rights I’ve discussed with you if I accept your plea?”
Mangione responds, “Yes.”
at the courthouse in Manhattan
Right now, Judge Garnett is going over the consequences of pleading guilty.
She’s asking Mangione if he understands that at a trial, he would be presumed innocent and that the prosecution would have to prove their case. Mangione continues answering in the affirmative.
This questioning is typical of plea proceedings. Judges go through this to make sure that defendants are informed of what’s happening when they enter a guilty plea.
at the courthouse in Manhattan
The judge is asking if he had enough of a chance to speak with his lawyers. Mangione says, “I have.”
She asks if his lawyers apprised him of the consequences of pleading guilty. He answered in the affirmative.
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at the courthouse in Manhattan
The judge is asking Mangione basic questions, such as his name, his age, how far he went in school.
Mangione says he has not been treated for any mental illness, nor is he under the care of a doctor or any mental health professional.
The judge asks him whether he’s on any medicine. He replies: “Sleep medication two days ago.”
She asks if he feels his mind is clear today. He replies, “I do.”
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Mangione prepared to plead guilty, his lawyer tells judge
at the courthouse in Manhattan
The prosecution confirms to judge that Brian Thompson’s family is seated in the courtroom.
Judge Garnett said she wants to remind everyone, “This is a federal courtroom. Decorem must be observed at all times.”
Karen Friedman Agnifilo announces:
Mr Mangione is prepared to plead guilty to the indictment at this time.
The judge asked Mangione whether he does plan to do that. He said: “Yes.”
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at the courthouse in Manhattan
The judge, Margaret Garnett, enters the courtroom. Court is starting. Mangione is standing with his hands crossed in front of him.
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at the courthouse in Manhattan
A US Marshal has placed a bottle of water in front of Mangione on the table. Mangione is now reading over a piece of paper. Friedman-Agnifilo, sitting with one elbow on the table alongside him, is also reviewing the paper. They are speaking to each other.
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Luigi Mangione appears in court
at the courthouse in Manhattan
Luigi Mangione has entered the courtroom. He is wearing tan jail scrubs with a white under shirt. His ankles are shackled.
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at the courthouse in Manhattan
Mangione’s legal team is helmed by Karen Friedman Agnifilo and Marc Agnifilo. The team has scored several major legal coups in Mangione’s federal and state cases.
Remember: Judge Garnett threw out the death penalty eligible federal charge earlier this year. And Mangione’s lawyers also secured the dismissal of his two top New York state charges: first-degree murder and second-degree murder, both of which the prosecution had contended were terrorism crimes.
The family of Brian Thompson, the former UnitedHealthcare CEO, has entered the courtroom, according to CNN, which reports that Thompson’s mother, widow and several others members of the family are sitting in the front row.
No members of Luigi Mangione’s family are expected to be there, sources told CNN earlier this morning. They have not attended any of his court hearings so far.
at the courthouse in Manhattan
We’re potentially moments away from Luigi Mangione’s expected court appearance in what many speculate might be a change-of-plea in his federal stalking case related to the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Right now, prosecutors and Mangione’s lawyers are speaking in the courtroom. The proceeding has not started yet.
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Here are some images from outside the Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse this morning, ahead of Luigi Mangione’s expected guilty plea.
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at the courthouse in Manhattan
If Mangione does wind up pleading guilty, Garnett will ask him some questions about how he’s feeling before the proceedings get to the admission-of-guilt stage.
Judges ask these questions at plea proceedings to make sure a person is sound enough to knowingly enter a plea. So, if you see anything pop up on social media that makes these questions sound unique or indicative of something else, ignore that noise and speculation.
Some of the questions that typically get asked before guilty pleas are entered include: “How old are you?”, “How far did you get in school?”, “Are you currently or have you recently been under the care of a physician?”, “Have you recently seen a psychiatrist or a psychologist or had any sort of mental health counseling?”, “Have you ever been treated for any psychiatric condition?”, “Have you ever been hospitalized for drug abuse or alcohol abuse?” and “In the last 24 hours, have you had any drugs, medicine, pills or alcoholic beverages of any kind?”
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at the courthouse in Manhattan
This morning, the Guardian chatted with Seth Zuckerman, founder of Zuckerman Legal Group and a former New York prosecutor, to run through the process we might expect this morning.
If Mangione were to plead guilty, the proceeding will start with both sides telling Judge Margaret Garnett that a plea is going to take place.
“There will be an allocution, which is where he admits to his guilt and his wrongdoing,” Zuckerman said of the process. Then, Zuckerman said, “the judge will set a sentencing date down the road.”
But a plea wouldn’t mean that Mangione’s federal case is done right away, Zuckerman said.
“It’s not over until he gets sentenced,” Zuckerman said. “Federal sentencings are generally adjourned for a few months after the plea date.”
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How did we get here?
Luigi Mangione is accused of traveling to New York City to ambush Brian Thompson and then shooting him outside a Manhattan hotel on 4 December 2024, as the executive walked to UnitedHealth Group’s annual investor conference.
Mangione’s federal charges allege that he traveled across state lines by bus to stalk and kill Thompson and that he used means such as a cellphone, the internet, interstate highways and staying at a hostel that serves out-of-state customers while planning and carrying out the attack. The state charges pertain to the killing itself, as well as firearms offenses.
In a letter last month, state prosecutors objected to the possibility of a guilty plea in the federal case wiping out the state case.
“Obviously, any guilty pleas in these matters must account for the seriousness of defendant’s offenses, the loss of an innocent life, the impact of those crimes on the victim’s family, and the other state interests that are implicated, including the sanctity of life principle that underpins the state homicide charges,” assistant district attorney Joel Seidemann wrote.
Mangione’s expected decision to plead guilty comes after a series of setbacks for his defense.
In January, US district judge Margaret Garnett took the death penalty off the table but ruled that prosecutors could use items collected from Mangione’s backpack during his arrest as evidence against him.
They included a 3D-printed pistol that investigators said matched the one used to kill Thompson and a notebook in which authorities say Mangione described his intent to kill an insurance executive.
In June, Mangione’s lawyers said they would pursue a psychiatric defense in the state case but reversed course a day later. The defense, involving claims that he was suffering from extreme emotional disturbance at the time of the killing, isn’t allowed in federal court.
Surveillance video of the killing showed a masked gunman shooting Thompson from behind. Police say “delay,” “deny” and “depose” were written on the ammunition, mimicking a phrase used to describe how insurers avoid paying claims.
Mangione’s last pre-trial conference for the state case took place on Tuesday, where the judge addressed contentious issues surrounding media access at the highly anticipated trial.
With the Associated Press.
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How Mangione became a cause célèbre for public rage at US for-profit health system
To recap, Luigi Mangione faces criminal charges in both state and federal court following the shocking murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, who was fatally shot outside the Hilton Hotel in midtown Manhattan in December 2024.
After a five-day, multi-state manhunt that attracted an avalanche of intense global media attention, Mangione was arrested at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Police seized various items including a notebook that prosecutors said contained a purported manifesto, along with the gun which authorities allege is the murder weapon.
While the violence horrified many Americans, Mangione also found himself fervently propelled to folk hero status among supporters who ultimately perceived him as a vigilante, extracting justice against a health system broken by corporate greed.
He became a cause célèbre, inspiring memes on social media while several dozen supporters have shown up to his court appearances, some wearing green clothing - the color worn by the Mario Bros. video game character Luigi – and “FREE LUIGI” T-shirts. An online fundraiser for his legal defense fund raised more than $1.5m.
Indeed, the now 28-year-old, who himself struggled with chronic back problems, has been lionized as a vehicle for public rage over spiralling healthcare costs and coverage denials.
It’s an issue that cuts through the political divide. “People hate their healthcare in the United States,” Ed Ongweso Jr, a senior researcher at Security in Context, an international project of scholars housed at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, told the Guardian’s Ben Makuch in the days after Thompson’s killing. He added:
It’s not surprising to me that some people celebrated the assassination as a form of catharsis, but I am surprised by how many people are openly doing so and pushing back against attempts to scold it.
Unlike in most of the developed world, healthcare in the United States is provided entirely by private companies – there is no universal, single-payer system for non-seniors. Most Americans must either individually pay into an insurance plan or get insurance through their employer. Plans can cost hundreds and (often) thousands of dollars a month, depending on the extent of a person’s needs and the plans being offered by insurers.
“Commentators and talking heads don’t seem to understand the reaction because they don’t see these industries as violent ones,” Ongweso continued. They clearly understand that someone was murdered, he said, “but struggle with the idea that the population views what these companies do is murder on an industrial scale”.
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Good morning from Manhattan federal court!
Luigi Mangione is expected to appear at 11am ET after a hastily scheduled conference that has spurred intense speculation that he might plead guilty related to the killing of UnitedHealthcare executive Brian Thompson.
Throngs of media and some supporters have gathered in front of the 40 Foley courthouse. The Guardian spotted at least three people lining up by 5pm during a quick walk by court on Thursday afternoon.
They appeared to be paid line sitters. For several years at high-profile trials in New York, news organizations and some curious members of the public have hired paid line sitters to keep their place in a queue as to avoid camping out overnight.
Mangione now faces federal stalking charges; he also faces New York state murder and weapons charges and that trial is scheduled for 8 September.
If Mangione pleads guilty, that could send his New York case into uncertainty, because the state has double jeopardy statutes that could bar it.
If he does plead guilty, it’s fair to assume there will be a flurry of court paperwork filed in his state case sooner than later, with his attorneys likely poised to push for its dismissal.
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Luigi Mangione reportedly expected to plead guilty in federal stalking case
Luigi Mangione, is reportedly expected to plead guilty at a scheduled hearing on Friday in Manhattan federal court, where he faces charges of stalking resulting in the death of Brian Thompson, the chief of executive of UnitedHealthcare, in 2024.
The potential plea deal in the federal case, which NBC News and the New York Times (paywall) reported on Thursday, comes less a month out from a scheduled trial on 8 September on a New York state murder charge in connection with Thompson’s fatal shooting. The federal trial for the stalking charges in connection with the killing of Thompson is due to take place in January, and carries a potential life sentence.
Rumours of a plea deal have been circulating since late June when Mangione’s defense team met with federal prosecutors to discuss, it was widely understood, a plea deal in the federal case.
It wasn’t immediately clear which charges Mangione would be pleading not guilty to on Friday – there are two stalking-related charges in the federal case - nor was it clear the potential impact the plea could have on the state murder case. He could also change his mind at any time, including in the courtroom. He has previously pleaded not guilty to all charges against him in both federal and state court.
Should Mangione go ahead with pleading guilty in the federal case, his lawyers could move to have his state case dismissed by arguing double jeopardy (being tried more than once on related charges). On the other hand, state prosecutors could argue that the federal stalking case and the state murder case address two different harms – alleged interstate stalking resulting in death in the federal case versus intentional killing in the state case. They could also argue that the weapon charges involve different elements that are separate to the federal stalking case.
