The 26-year-old suspect accused of gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a midtown Manhattan street last year, Luigi Mangione, has released his first public statement since his arrest.
“I am overwhelmed by – and grateful for – everyone who has written me to share their stories and express their support. Powerfully, this support has transcended political, racial, and even class divisions, as mail has flooded MDC from across the country, and around the globe.” Mr. Mangione wrote, referring to the squalid Metropolitan Detention Center at Brooklyn, where he is currently incarcerated.
Mr. Mangione’s message was published on Friday on a website launched by his legal defense team, who spoke exclusively to Rolling Stone, which is known for far left journalism. “While it is impossible for me to reply to most letters,” he wrote, “please know that I read every one that I receive. Thank you again to everyone who took the time to write. I look forward to hearing more in the future.”
The website features case updates and a link to a legal defense fund, which has so far raised $426,154 on GiveSendGo, a faith-based crowdfunding site popular with conservatives that, unlike GoFundMe, will support people charged with violent crimes. The money will go to fight the charges Mr. Mangione faces in three separate courts, in Pennsylvania, where he was arrested, and at state and federal court in New York.
By contrast, a GiveSendGo crowdfunding campaign for Daniel Penny, the marine who killed a vagrant on a New York City subway, raised almost $3 million for his successful defense. His high-profile case has triggered an unusually large outpouring of public support for an alleged killer because of the unpopularity of health insurers such as UnitedHealthcare.
Mr. Mangione’s reference, in his statement, to correspondents who “share their stories” with him is likely a reference to tales of woe regarding parsimonious health insurers.Thompson’s murder led to a public outpouring of these stories from Americans incensed by how aggressively insurers reject claims. According to estimates, health insurers reject between 17 and 20 percent of “in network” claims, with UnitedHealthcare’s reject rate being on the higher end.
In the early hours of December 4, at approximately 6:45 am, the tech enthusiast, who comes from a wealthy and influential real estate family in Towson, Maryland, outside Baltimore, was his high school valedictorian and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the University of Pennsylvania, allegedly shot and killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Thompson on a sidewalk in front of the Hilton at Midtown Manhattan, as the executive was leaving his hotel on his way to an investor conference.
After a five-day-long manhunt, during which pictures of the alleged assassin were circulated on national media and flooded the internet, Mr. Mangione was finally arrested at a McDonald’s at Altoona, Pennsylvania, where a worker called the police after a customer had recognized the young man, who had removed his face mask to eat, from a surveillance photo taken at the youth hostel where the killer allegedly stayed at Manhattan’s Bloomingdale neighborhood, just north of the Upper West Side.
Notably, the GiveSendGo fundraising page, linked to from Mr. Mangione’s new website, shows this smiling surveillance image, paired with a flattering headshot of the defendant. This would suggest his defense attorneys are acknowledging the blurry surveillance photo indeed shows their client.
On December 19, Mr. Mangione waived his right to fight extradition to New York and was transported via plane to Long Island and then via helicopter to Manhattan’s Wall Street heliport, where he was met by a drove of law enforcement officials and reporters, as well as New York’s Mayor Eric Adams.
His lead defense attorney, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, told the presiding judge at Manhattan criminal court during his last hearing, that she was surprised her client was brought to state court – not federal – and that the double charges in federal and state court were due to grandstanding. She also complained that her client was given “the biggest perp walk,” she had “ever seen,” escorted by “assault rifles” that she said “I didn’t know existed.” Ms. Agniflio criticized Mr. Adams for treating Mr. Magione “like a spectacle” and described the perp walk as “perfectly choreographed, utterly political” and “absolutely unnecessary.”
Mr. Magione pleaded not guilty to all charges. The Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, brought an 11-count indictment against him, inducing charges of murder in the first-degree, which is the most serious homicide offense in New York State, punishable by 20 years to life behind bars without the possibility of parole.
In federal court, Mr. Mangione could possibly face the death penalty. The four-count criminal complaint includes murder through use of a firearm, which carries the possibility of the death penalty, though federal prosecutors have not yet said if they will seek it. In recent weeks, President Trump has said he will be aggressive in seeking the death penalty for federal defendants, after President Biden commuted most of the death sentences on federal death row to life in prison, to much outrage.
Besides the indictments in New York, Mr. Mangione is also charged in Pennsylvania for allegedly carrying a gun without a license, forgery, falsely identifying himself to the authorities, and possessing instruments of a crime, according to a criminal complaint.
His next court appearance is scheduled at Manhattan criminal court for February 21.
