Luigi Mangione, 26, the suspect in the murder of Brian Thompson, CEO of United Healthcare, the largest private health insurance company in the USA, appeared before the judge in handcuffs and chains in New York’s Manhattan district. Mangione denied the murder and terrorism charges in court. Answering the question of whether Judge Gregory Carro accepted the indictment, which included charges including murder, possession of a weapon for criminal purposes and committing a terrorist act, Mangione leaned into the microphone and said, “I am not guilty.”
Mangione’s lawyer, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, said in her statement that the statements made by public officials and politicians caused concern that her client would not receive a fair trial. Arguing that Mangione was used as a political tool, Agnifilo said, “He is not a symbol, he is an individual who has the right to a fair trial.”
THEY GATHERED TO SUPPORT THE MURDER SUSPECT
Despite the freezing cold, dozens of people gathered around the courtroom to support Mangione. Expressing the anger of the US people towards healthcare companies, the demonstrators chanted slogans such as “Health care is a human right”. One protester said, “Murder for profit is terrorism. He was seen carrying a banner saying “Free Luigi”. While another demonstrator was carrying a banner reading “People, not profit”, one of the demonstrators was seen holding a banner referencing the “delay, deny, defend” tactics used by health insurance companies to deny legitimate claims of policyholders. These slogans, which express the practice of companies first “delaying” the claims of insurance holders, then “rejecting” them and finally “defending” themselves in the courts, were also seen written on the bullet casings found at the murder scene where United Healthcare CEO Thompson was killed.
Mangione’s next hearing will be held on February 21.
MAY RECEIVE DEATH PENALTY
State and federal cases against Mangione are planned to proceed in parallel. The federal charges the 26-year-old suspect faces include murder with the use of a firearm and causing death as a result of an interstate pursuit. State-level charges include murder in the context of a terrorist act, possession of a firearm and possession of a forged document.
Mangione reportedly faces the death penalty if convicted of the federal murder charge, and life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted of the state charges.
United Healthcare CEO Thompson was shot and killed on the street in New York on December 4, before an investor conference he was to attend as a speaker.
After the high-profile murder committed next to the Hilton Hotel on Sixth Avenue in the Manhattan district, the police launched a “manhunt” that lasted days. Police arrested the murder suspect, Luigi Mangione, while he was eating at a fast food restaurant in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on December 9. After the murder, many Americans, who were aggrieved by the high costs of healthcare and insurance companies’ practices of refusing to pay for some treatments, began to speak of Mangione as a folk hero. (UAV)
