By Matt Delaney – The Washington Times – Tuesday, December 10, 2024
Luigi Mangione lashed out while being led inside a Pennsylvania courthouse for his extradition hearing Tuesday, the latest flash point for the Ivy League graduate charged with the Dec. 4 murder of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO on a Manhattan street.
Mr. Mangione, 26, shouted that something was “completely out of touch and an insult to the intelligence of the American people” as Blair County Sheriff’s Office deputies wrangled and pushed him inside for his extradition hearing.
According to a manifesto posted online Tuesday, he saw American health care executives as “parasites” who deserve to be killed.
He was denied bail during his hearing and fought extradition to New York.
Tom Dickey, a defense lawyer retained by Mr. Mangione, said he had been hired to resist the extradition effort.
“We’re going to fight this along the rules and with the constitutional protections that my client has,” said Mr. Dickey, who is based in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said she plans to file a warrant for Mr. Mangione’s extradition from Pennsylvania.
“Public safety is my top priority and I’ll do everything in my power to keep the streets of New York safe,” Ms. Hochul said in a statement.
Authorities are trying to return Mr. Mangione to Manhattan to face second-degree murder charges in the killing of UnitedHealthcare executive Brian Thompson. Mr. Mangione was arrested Monday morning after a McDonald’s employee spotted him inside the fast-food restaurant in Altoona and phoned police.
New York Police Department officials said Mr. Thompson, 50, had been targeted from the beginning. Still, premeditation is not a sufficient circumstance under New York state law for first-degree murder.
The most serious murder charge in the state is reserved for people who kill law enforcement officers, kill for hire, kill a witness, kill people while torturing them, kill someone while robbing or kidnapping them, or kill someone while serving a lengthy prison sentence.
Mountains of evidence link Mr. Mangione to the slaying of Mr. Thompson. Prosecutors filed charging documents against the once-affable young professional who lost touch with family and friends after major back surgery months ago.
New York prosecutors said surveillance footage captured the gunman leaving a hostel in the Upper West Side roughly an hour before Mr. Thompson was fatally shot on Sixth Avenue.
The shooter checked into the hostel with what police said was a fraudulent New Jersey ID under the name “Mark Rosario.” Pennsylvania authorities said Mr. Mangione presented the same fake ID to officers when he was detained Monday in Altoona.
He was also caught with what police said was the gunman’s clothing, a 3D printed gun with a silencer and a three-page manifesto that characterized Mr. Thompson’s killing as a “symbolic takedown” to alleged corruption within the health care industry.
The manifesto largely resembles liberal talking points on health care, and the Ivy League graduate said, “Frankly, these parasites simply had it coming.
“A reminder: the US has the #1 most expensive healthcare system in the world, yet we rank roughly #42 in life expectancy. United is the [indecipherable] largest company in the US by market cap, behind only Apple, Google, Walmart. It has grown and grown, but has our life expectancy? No,” he wrote.
He acknowledges in the writing that health care is a complex issue on which he is not an expert, but he forthrightly blames the profit motive and says everybody knows that.
“Evidently I am the first to face it with such brutal honesty,” he concluded.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at an afternoon briefing that it was unacceptable for anyone to resort to “horrific violence to combat corporate greed.”
Mr. Mangione did not enter a plea during his initial arraignment late Monday in Pennsylvania.
In New York, he is facing one count of second-degree murder, two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, one count of second-degree possession of a forged document and one count of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon in New York City.
“We do have a lot of evidence in this case,” NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch told “Good Morning America.” “There’s a lot of reasons that we feel very strongly that he is the person of interest.”
Mr. Mangione is facing weapons and forgery charges in Pennsylvania.
The killing has blindsided those who have long known Mr. Mangione.
“Our family is shocked and devastated by Luigi’s arrest,” Mr. Mangione’s family said in a statement released by his cousin, Maryland state Delegate Nino Mangione, a Republican. “We offer our prayers to the family of Brian Thompson and we ask people to pray for all involved.”
Mr. Mangione’s mother filed a missing person’s report on Nov. 18 after not hearing from him after back surgery.
New York Police Department officials said his last known address was in Honolulu.
R.J. Martin, a co-founder of Surfbreak, a community living space, told local ABC news station KITV that Mr. Mangione moved to the city in 2022.
He said it’s “unimaginable” that Mr. Mangione, who was well-liked by the others at Surfbreak, would be implicated in the health care executive’s killing.
“Never once talked about guns, never once talked about violence,” Mr. Martin told the station. “He was absolutely not a violent person, as far as I could tell.”
Mr. Martin said Mr. Mangione discussed a lingering back issue when he arrived at the commune.
Mr. Mangione read multiple books about dealing with chronic back pain, according to his GoodReads profile. CNN reported that posts from a Reddit user matched Mr. Mangione’s back issues.
The user talked about wrestling with spondylolisthesis, a condition in which vertebrae in the lower back can slip out of place.
The Reddit user mentioned a surfing accident in which his back and hips locked up and caused sporadic numbness. The user said he was “terrified of the implications.”
Mr. Martin told Honolulu media that Mr. Mangione injured his back during a surf lesson, leaving him bedridden for a week.
Mr. Mangione needed surgery to fix the issue, Mr. Martin said. An X-ray photo of the spinal fusion surgery, showing four large screws implanted into his back, is in the banner photo on Mr. Mangione’s X account.
“I know it was really traumatic and difficult,” Mr. Martin said. “You know when you’re in your early 20s and you can’t, you know, do some basic things. It can be really, really difficult.”
Possibly reflecting a personal angle on the manifesto’s critique of the health care system, Mr. Mangione could be heard yelling about “lived experience” on Tuesday as deputies pushed him into the courthouse.
The Surfbreak co-founder said Mr. Mangione stayed in touch after moving out of the community in mid-2022 but went “radio silent” in June or July.
Interactions on Mr. Mangione’s social media accounts appear to verify his retreat from social life.
One friend reached out in July on X to say, “Hey man, I need you to call me. I don’t know if you are ok or just in a super isolated place … But I haven’t heard from you in months.”
In late October, another friend reached out on X to say, “Hey, are you ok? Nobody has heard from you in months, and apparently your family is looking for you.”
Mr. Mangione comes from a wealthy Maryland family that owns the nursing home chain Lorien Health Services, a Maryland radio station, the Turf Valley Resort and the Hayfields Country Club.
He attended the private Gilman School in Baltimore, graduating as valedictorian in 2016. He later graduated with a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in computer science from the University of Pennsylvania.
According to his LinkedIn page, after graduating, Mr. Mangione worked as a software engineer for the online car sales company TrueCar.
That all seems distant after Mr. Mangione was pegged as the man who shot Mr. Thompson in midtown Manhattan last week and evaded a massive law enforcement search for five days.
The shooter lurked nearby and waited for Mr. Thompson to come into view before firing at least three rounds at point-blank range at the health care executive’s back.
The gunman then ran through an alley and hopped onto an electric bike, which he rode into Central Park.
Police said the gunman ditched his backpack in the park and caught a taxi to the George Washington Bridge Bus Station in northern Manhattan. Authorities said he boarded a commuter bus that took him out of the state.
The gunman appeared undone by one minor slip: when he pulled down his mask to flirt with someone in New York City.
A McDonald’s employee in Pennsylvania noticed Mr. Mangione’s distinctive look and called the police soon afterward.
During an appearance on “Good Morning America,” Joseph Kenny, the chief of detectives for NYPD, said mass distribution of a photo of the suspect’s uncovered face was “the key to this case.”
