Written by Jack Queen and Luc Cohen
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Luigi Mangione, accused of fatally shooting health insurance executive Brian Thompson on a Manhattan street, on Monday pleaded not guilty to New York state murder charges that brand him a terrorist.
Mr. Mangione, 26, was carried into Judge Gregory Caro’s courtroom on the 13th floor of the New York State Criminal Courthouse in Lower Manhattan by a procession of about six police officers, carrying a court official in his arms. It was done. He was handcuffed and shackled and was wearing a burgundy sweater over a white collared shirt.
When asked how he had pleaded to the 11-count indictment, which included three counts of murder, including murder as an act of terrorism, Mangione leaned into the microphone and answered, “Not guilty.”
If convicted, he could face up to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Last Thursday, Mangione was transferred from Pennsylvania to New York after deciding to fight extradition. He was removed from a helicopter in Lower Manhattan by a large group of police officers and New York Mayor Eric Adams.
That scene and other statements from public officials suggest Mr. Mangione may not receive a fair trial, his attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo said at the hearing.
“They treat him like he’s some kind of political material, some kind of spectacle,” Agnifilo said. “He’s not a symbol, he’s a person entitled to a fair trial.”
Monday’s arraignment was Mangione, 26,’s second court appearance in New York.
McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, five days after the brazen attack that killed Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:) insurance division UnitedHealthcare, outside a hotel in the early hours of December 4. (NYSE:) Arrested at a restaurant. In midtown Manhattan, the company was gathering for an investor meeting.
Mangione also faces four federal criminal charges accusing him of stalking and murdering Thompson. He has not yet been asked to enter a plea to these charges. U.S. Magistrate Judge Katherine Parker ordered Mr. Mangione held in custody on these charges at a Dec. 19 hearing.
“Reject, Defend, Abandon”
More than 20 members of the public were seated in the courtroom where Mangione testified.
A small group of demonstrators gathered outside a lower Manhattan courthouse in subzero temperatures to express support for Mr. Mangione and anger at the medical company.
One person was holding a placard that read “Deny, Defend, Release,” which police said was etched into a shell casing at the crime scene. The term reflects a tactic that some insurance companies are accused of using to avoid paying claims.
Thompson’s murder has been condemned by public officials, but Mangione is revered as a folk hero by some Americans who decry the high medical bills and the power of insurance companies to refuse to pay for some treatments. It is being
The federal charges would make him eligible for the death penalty if the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan decides to carry out the death penalty.
Separate federal and state lawsuits will proceed in parallel. Federal prosecutors say the state case is currently scheduled to be tried first.
Mangione’s lead attorney, Friedman Agnifilo, said in a federal court hearing that the two charges appear to be based on conflicting theories. The state charges accuse Mr. Mangione of intending to “intimidate or coerce civilians” and influence policy, while the federal charges accuse Mr. Mangione of stalking and killing individuals.
Friedman Agnifilo said the two cases appear to be completely different and asked prosecutors to clarify whether both cases will continue. Federal prosecutor Dominic Gentile said Thursday’s first court appearance was not the right time to address those legal arguments.
When police arrested Mangione, they found a notebook containing several handwritten pages in which he “expressed hostility toward the health insurance industry and wealthy executives in particular,” according to a federal criminal complaint.
The notebook, dated October 22, allegedly stated that he intended to “upset” the insurance company’s chief executive at an investor meeting. (This story has been corrected in the headline and paragraph 1 to refer to Brian Thompson as a UnitedHealth executive, not CEO)
