The man accused of fatally shooting the CEO of UnitedHealthcare pleaded not guilty on Monday to murder and terror charges while his attorney complained that statements coming from New York's mayor would make it tough for him to receive a fair trial.
Wearing a collared shirt and a maroon sweater, Luigi Mangione was shackled and seated in a Manhattan court when he leaned over to a microphone to enter his plea. The Manhattan district attorney formally charged the 26-year-old last week with multiple counts of murder, including murder as an act of terrorism, in a state case that will run parallel to his federal prosecution.
The federal charges could carry the possibility of the death penalty, while the maximum sentence for the state charges is life in prison without parole. Prosecutors have said the two cases will proceed on parallel tracks, with the state charges expected to go to trial first.
Lawyers for Mangione did not hint at what their client's defense may be. However, one attorney told the judge that government officials, including New York Mayor Eric Adams, have turned Mangione into a political pawn, robbing him of his rights as a defendant and tainting the jury pool.
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“I am very concerned about my client’s right to a fair trial,” said Karen Friedman Agnifilo.
“This is a young man,” she said. “He is being treated like a human pingpong ball between warring jurisdictions here...He was on display for everyone to see in the biggest staged perp walk I’ve seen in my career. It was absolutely unnecessary."
Agnifilo added a barb aimed for Adams in particular, saying "the mayor should know more than anyone the presumption of innocence that he too is afforded."
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City Hall issued a response to the comments.
"The cold-blooded assassination of Brian Thompson – a father of two – and the terror it infused on the streets of New York City for days has since been sickeningly glorified, shining a spotlight on the darkest corners of the internet," his press secretary said in a statement. "Mayor Adams’ priority is – and always has been – public safety, and he has repeatedly spoken about how social media is fueling the radicalization of our youth. Critics can say all they want, but showing up to support our law enforcement and sending the message to New Yorkers that violence and vitriol have no place in our city is who Mayor Eric Adams is to his core."
State trial court Judge Gregory Carro responded that he has little control over what happens outside the courtroom, but said he can guarantee that Mangione will receive a fair trial.
Authorities say Mangione gunned down Brian Thompson as he was walking to an investor conference in midtown Manhattan on the morning of Dec 4. Prosecutors on Monday suggested a big chunk of their case is based on thousands of hours of surveillance video tracking Mangione after the CEO’s killing — so much video that it crashed the DA's discovery portal.
"Given how much evidence there is against this defendant...it would be smarter if council could provide us with a 2 terrabite external drive rather than rely on the crashing of the portal," said prosecutor Joel Seidermann.
Mangione was arrested 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 also was carrying a notebook expressing hostility toward the health insurance industry and especially wealthy executives, according to federal prosecutors.
At a news conference announcing the state charges on Tuesday, Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg said the application of the terrorism law reflected the severity of a “frightening, well-planned, targeted murder that was intended to cause shock and attention and intimidation.”
“In its most basic terms, this was a killing that was intended to evoke terror,” he added. “And we’ve seen that reaction.”
Karen Friedman Agnifilo, an attorney for Mangione, has accused federal and state prosecutors of advancing conflicting legal theories. In federal court last week, she called their approach “very confusing” and “highly unusual.”
Mangione is being held in a Brooklyn federal jail alongside several other high-profile defendants, including Sean “Diddy” Combs and Sam Bankman-Fried.
He was extradited from Pennsylvania on Thursday and quickly rushed to New York City, where he was seen wearing an orange jumpsuit as he was led away from a helicopter by heavily armed police officers and New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
Adams said he was hoping to send a message to the suspect: “I wanted to look him in the eye and say you carried out this terroristic act in my city — the city that the people of New York love,” the mayor told a local TV station. “I wanted to be there to show the symbolism of that.”
An Ivy-league graduate from a prominent Maryland family, Mangione appeared to have cut himself off from family and friends in recent months. He posted frequently in online forums about his struggles with back pain. He was never a UnitedHealthcare client, according to the insurer.
Thompson, a married father of two high-schoolers, had worked at the giant UnitedHealth Group for 20 years and became CEO of its insurance arm in 2021.
The killing has prompted some to voice their resentment at U.S. health insurers, with Mangione serving as a stand-in for frustrations over coverage denials and hefty medical bills. It also has sent shockwaves through the corporate world, rattling executives who say they have received a spike in threats.
A few dozen protesters gathered outside the courthouse on Monday, some of whom held signs that read “free Luigi." Others expressed frustration with the nation’s healthcare and insurance industries, but stopped short of defending Mangione.
