Luigi Mangione, the man accused of fatally shooting health insurance executive Brian Thompson on a Manhattan street, pleaded not guilty on Monday to New York state murder charges that label him a terrorist.
Mangione, 26, was escorted into Judge Gregory Carro’s 13th-floor courtroom in the New York state criminal courthouse in lower Manhattan, with a court officer on each arm and a procession of several officers behind him. He was handcuffed and shackled, wearing a burgundy sweater over a white-collared shirt.
When asked by Carro how he pleaded to the 11-count indictment, which charges him with murder as an act of terrorism and weapons offenses, Mangione leaned into a microphone and said, “not guilty.”
If convicted, Mangione faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealth Group’s insurance unit UnitedHealthcare, was shot dead on Dec. 4 outside a hotel in midtown Manhattan, where the company was holding an investor conference. The high-profile killing and the subsequent five-day manhunt captivated the nation. While public officials have condemned the murder, some Americans who criticize the high costs of healthcare and the power of insurance companies to deny certain treatments have regarded Mangione as a folk hero.
Mangione was arrested at a McDonald’s restaurant in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on Dec. 9. After deciding not to contest extradition, he was transferred to New York, where he was led off a helicopter in lower Manhattan by a large contingent of police officers, accompanied by New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
That spectacle and other statements from public officials have raised concerns that Mangione may not receive a fair trial, according to his lawyer, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, who spoke at Monday’s hearing.
“They are treating him like he is some sort of political fodder, some sort of spectacle,” Agnifilo said. “He is not a symbol, he is someone who is afforded a right to a fair trial.”
Several dozen people gathered outside the courthouse in freezing temperatures to show their support for Mangione and express anger at healthcare companies. One person held a sign that read “DENY, DEFEND, DEPOSE,” a phrase some believe reflects tactics used by insurers to avoid paying out claims. Authorities have stated that the words “deny,” “delay,” and “depose” were found written on shell casings at the crime scene.
Kara Hay, a 42-year-old schoolteacher, said she believed it was wrong to charge Mangione with terrorism.
“Shooting one CEO does not make him a terrorist, and I do not feel terrorized,” said Hay, holding a sign that read “innocent until proven guilty.”
After the 30-minute hearing, officers once again shackled Mangione and led him out of the courtroom. He is currently being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center, a federal facility in Brooklyn.
Carro set Mangione’s next court appearance for Feb. 21.
Dual, State, Federal Cases
Monday’s arraignment marked Luigi Mangione’s second court appearance in New York, where he also faces a four-count federal criminal complaint charging him with stalking and killing Brian Thompson.
Mangione has not yet been asked to enter a plea in the federal case. U.S. Magistrate Judge Katharine Parker ordered Mangione’s detention at a Dec. 19 hearing in Manhattan federal court.
The federal charges could make him eligible for the death penalty if the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan decides to pursue it.
The state and federal cases will proceed simultaneously, with the state case currently expected to go to trial first, according to federal prosecutors.
At the hearing, Mangione’s lawyer, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, expressed difficulty in defending her client in the face of both state and federal charges.
“He is being treated like a human ping-pong ball between these two jurisdictions,” Friedman Agnifilo said.
She also stated that the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, which brought the state charges, has not yet provided any evidence to the defense to aid in trial preparation, a process known as discovery. A prosecutor responded that the office would begin providing the evidence soon.
According to the federal criminal complaint, when Mangione was arrested, police found a notebook containing several handwritten pages that “express hostility towards the health insurance industry and wealthy executives in particular.”
One notebook entry dated Oct. 22 allegedly described an intent to “wack” the chief executive of an insurance company at its investor conference.
