What's New
While Luigi Mangione is in court Monday to be arraigned on New York state charges, his lawyer is taking issue with mayor Eric Adams' "political fodder."
Newsweek reached out to Adams' office for comment.
Why It Matters
Attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo said when her client, the alleged gunman who killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, arrived in New York, it was "the biggest perp walk I've ever seen." With a new haircut, Mangione agreed to be extradited to New York from Pennsylvania on Thursday after he was arrested at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on December 9.
"He is being treated like political fodder," Karen Friedman said to reporters. "The mayor should know about due process, given his own problems. I think he was there to try to take away from those issues. He wanted to show symbolism. But my client is not a symbol."
Adams said he met Mangione during the extradition to "look him in the eye."
"I want to look him in the eye and state that 'you carried out this terrorist act in my city, the city that this, the people of New York, love,'" Adams said.
Adams' press secretary, Kayla Mamelak Altus, told Newsweek via email Monday that the mayor's presence at Mangioni's perp walk was "showing up to support our law enforcement as they extradited a brutal killer 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."
"Luigi Mangione infused terror on the streets of New York City for days as our NYPD detectives hunted him down. His cold-blooded assassination of Brian Thompson – a father of two – has since been sickeningly glorified, shining a spotlight on the darkest corners of the internet. 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," Mamelak Altus told Newsweek.
What To Know
Luigi Mangione was charged with one count of murder in the first degree and two counts of murder in the second degree, including one of murder in the second degree as an act of terrorism "for the brazen, targeted and premeditated shooting on Brian Thompson," Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced on December 17.
There are also additional charges related to criminal possession of a weapon. The maximum penalty for first-degree murder and second-degree as an act of terrorism is life without parole. The maximum for second-degree murder is 25 years to life.
On Monday, Mangione pleaded not guilty to state murder charges.
Mangione, 26, was arrested in Pennsylvania last week following a search for a gunman believed to have fatally shot Thompson, 50, on December 4 in Manhattan.
Thompson was shot outside the Hilton hotel in Midtown, where UnitedHealthcare was holding its investor conference. A hooded attacker, who appeared to have been lying in wait, fled on foot to a back alley and then took an e-bike in the direction of Central Park.
Mangione was being held without bail in Pennsylvania, where he is charged with possession of an unlicensed firearm, forgery and providing false identification to police. The most serious of those charges, forgery, is punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Mangione has pled not guilty to those charges.
He is now in Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC).
The NYPD said Mangione's fingerprints appear to match those found near the site of the shooting. Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a news conference last week that the shell casings recovered at the site matched the 3D-printed gun that Mangione possessed when he was detained in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
A manifesto found with Mangione suggested his actions were fueled by anger toward the health insurance industry, describing executives as "parasites."
Adams' own administration, however, is also engulfed by multiple criminal investigations. Adams, a Democrat, has pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy, wire fraud and bribery in a separate federal case set to go to trial next April.
What People Are Saying
Democratic New York Representative Ritchie Torres in a statement on X Friday: "The dramatic perp walk of Luigi Mangione, accompanied by a heavily armed police presence, strikes me as law enforcement theater. Why the need for so much spectacle at so much taxpayer expense?"
New York Mayor Eric Adams told reporter Dan Mannarino on Friday: "Luigi Mangione was brought back to New York City to answer to the charges in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Those who bring illegal guns to our city will face justice. I want to thank all the individuals and law enforcement who helped bring this suspect into custody. The NYPD stops at nothing to catch criminals."
What Happens Next
Mangione will be tried in New York City for homicide and related charges. His next court appearance is scheduled for January 18, 2025.
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