The suspect accused of murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson shouted at reporters in a largely unintelligible rant on Tuesday as police forcibly escorted him into a Pennsylvania courthouse where his extradition hearing was taking place.
“This is extremely unjust, and an insult to the intelligence of the American people!” said the alleged gunman, Luigi Mangione.
Because his words were difficult to make out, some news outlets reported that he shouted something is “completely out of touch” instead of “extremely unjust.”
The rant came as the 26-year-old suspect arrived to his extradition hearing in Blair County, Pa., where law enforcement arrested him on Monday. After his outburst, Mangione’s attorney reportedly told him to not “say a word” during the hearing.
New York authorities are looking to extradite Mangione from Pennsylvania because Thompson’s murder occurred in Manhattan last Wednesday. Mangione is considered the sole person of interest in the case.
The defendant’s lawyer said he will fight extradition.
The New York Police Department and Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg’s office have released a warrant for Mangione’s arrest. It references the suspected assassin’s “written admissions” about the killing of Thompson, who led the largest health insurance company in the U.S.
At the time of his arrest, law enforcement discovered Mangione possessed a handwritten manifesto criticizing the U.S. healthcare industry for prioritizing profits instead of helping Americans. It’s unclear if the written admissions are different from the manifesto.
Authorities said they don’t know if Mangione had a personal connection to UnitedHealthcare. His motive for killing the chief executive remains unclear, although it’s possible he could have harbored ill will toward the healthcare industry following his spinal surgery. During this time, his family and friends couldn’t get in touch with him.
Less than a week after the cold-blooded killing, Mangione walked into a McDonald’s restaurant in Altoona on Monday morning, where he was spotted dining by a citizen who subsequently called the police.
Officers then discovered a 3D-printed pistol and a 3D-printed silencer in his backpack. Inside the pistol was a magazine with six nine-millimeter rounds. He was also carrying a fake New Jersey ID.
In Pennsylvania, Mangione was initially charged with forgery, possession of a firearm without a license, tampering with records or identification, possessing instruments of a crime, and providing false identification to police.
New York authorities filed an additional five charges soon after. Those charges pertain to murder, criminal possession of a weapon, and criminal possession of a forged instrument used for a crime.
“I was informed . . . that defendant presented a forged New Jersey Driver’s License with the name of Mark Rosario as his identification, which based on the number on it was the same identification defendant presented at the hostel, and that in defendant’s belongings, Patrolman Christy Wasser, Badge #250 found a semi-automatic pistol with what appears to be a 3D printed loaded receiver with a metal slide and silencer, and written admissions about the crime,” an NYPD detective wrote in the arrest warrant.