The suspect accused of fatally shooting the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare has pleaded not guilty to 11 murder and terror charges.
Authorities say Luigi Mangione shot dead Brian Thompson as he was walking to an investor conference in midtown Manhattan on the morning of 4 December.
The 26-year-old was formally charged last week by the Manhattan district attorney with multiple counts of murder, including murder as an act of terrorism.
A small group of protesters gathered outside the courtroom this morning in sub-zero temperatures, with signs expressing support for the defendant and anger at healthcare companies.
One placard read “DENY, DEFEND, DEPOSE”, a phrase police say had been etched onto shell casings at the crime
scene.
The words reflect tactics insurers are accused of employing to avoid paying out on claims.
Despite facing terrorism charges, Mangione has been lauded as a folk hero by some Americans who despair at the enormous healthcare costs and power of insurers to refuse to pay for some treatments.
A person holds a placard outside New York Supreme Court, on the day of an arraignment hearing for Luigi Mangione, the suspect in the killing of UnitedHealth Group chief executive Brian Thompson, in New York City, U.S. December 23, 2024. REUTERS/Kent
A person holds a placard outside New York Supreme Court, on the day of an arraignment hearing for Luigi Mangione, the suspect in the killing of UnitedHealth Group chief executive Brian Thompson, in New York City, U.S. December 23, 2024. REUTERS/Kent
Mangione was detained in a Pennsylvania McDonald’s after a five-day search, carrying a gun that matched the one used in the shooting and a fake ID, police said.
He was extradited from Pennsylvania on Thursday and quickly rushed to New York City.
As well as this state trial, he also faces a federal charges. The two cases will proceed on parallel tracks, prosecutors have said.
The state charges allege Mangione intended to “intimidate or coerce a civilian population” and influence
policy, while the federal charges accuse him of stalking and killing someone.
According to federal prosecutors, the police who arrested him also found a notebook containing writing that expressed “hostility towards the health insurance industry and wealthy executives in particular”.
Mangione is being held in a Brooklyn federal jail alongside several other high-profile defendants, including rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs and Sam Bankman-Fried, co-founder of failed crypto exchange FTX.
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