NEW YORK– Luigi Mangione pleaded not guilty in a New York courtroom on Monday to file charges in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel earlier this month.
His next court appearance was scheduled for February 21.
Prosecutors allege Mangione was found in possession of what is believed to be the murder weaponand surveillance video shows a man matching his description before and after the attackalso outside the Hilton where Thompson was shot in the back.
A key difference between state and federal charges is that the state argues the shooting was an act of terror. Additionally, the federal charges open the possibility of the death penalty.
Mangione, 26, is being held in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn after he appeared in federal court last week.
What happened during Luigi Mangione’s court appearance
Mangione entered the court with his hands and feet shackled. He wore a maroon sweater over a white-collared shirt and khaki pants.
Seth Wenig / AP
Mangione leaned forward and said “not guilty” into the microphone as the judge asked him to enter his plea.
He spoke calmly and at length with his lawyers during his brief appearance in court. His hands were freed long enough for him to sign some papers.
In court, Mangione’s attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo requested immediate, expedited discovery in the case, to which the judge agreed. Prosecutors said the amount of discovery material is extensive, including thousands of hours of surveillance video.
Friedman Agnifilo said Mangione faces two proceedings, one with the possibility of the death penalty, and she told the court she is “very concerned” about Mangione’s ability to receive a fair trial, saying that statements made by government officials are prejudicial.
She said Mangione is being treated like a “human ping-pong ball,” bouncing back and forth between state and federal jurisdiction, and that they have different theories in their cases.
Friedman Agnifilo said court authorities are making a spectacle of him, and she reprimanded Mayor Eric Adams for his statements regarding Mangione’s arrest when he was extradited to New York City, saying Mangione is also entitled to the presumption of innocence . She said Adams spoke to prospective potential jurors, and he calls him a terrorist.
The long line of reporters waiting to enter the courtroom Monday morning included members of the public — almost all of them young women — some of whom told Ali Bauman of CBS News New York that they were there to support Mangione. Outside the courthouse, CBS News New York’s Lisa Rozner reported that about 20 people had gathered to show their support for Mangione.
As Mangione left the courtroom, some of the women present gave him the thumbs up.
Mangione faces both state and federal charges
Like him, Mangione was flanked by heavily armed guards extradited from Pennsylvania to New York last Thursday. He subsequently appeared in federal court on charges of stalking and murder.
In a statement, his attorney Friedman Agnifilo called the federal charges “highly unusual,” saying they raise “serious constitutional and statutory dual threats.”
The federal complaint revealed Mangione was found with a notebook with handwritten pages expressing “hostility toward the health insurance industry and wealthy executives in particular.”
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg says his office is cooperating with the federal government and that although the cases are happening at the same time, the trials will have to take place at different times. Acting U.S. Attorney Edward Kim said he expects the state’s case to proceed first.
