'Very disturbing': CEO shooting suspect shouts message to media as police rush him into court

10 December 2024

On Tuesday, 26 year-old Luigi Mangione – who New York City authorities have charged in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson – used the scant few seconds he was in front of reporters to attempt to send a message to viewers.

In the video aired by CNN, a police SUV transporting Mangione is seen stopping outside of the Blair County Courthouse in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania. Police let the alleged shooter out on the side of the vehicle away from assembled reporters, and quickly rushed him from the vehicle to the courthouse entrance. As Mangione was being hustled into the building, he was heard shouting the words "completely unjust," "an insult to the intelligence of the American people" and "lived experience."

CNN host Briana Keilar pointed out that if Mangione is indeed the shooter, the messages he left on shell casings found at the scene of Thompson's murder, and the manifesto that authorities found on his person at the time he was arrested suggest that he was "on a mission." And trial attorney Mercedes Colwin opined that "outbursts" like the one outside the courthouse "will certainly be evaluated by his defense team, because that's just not normal."

"We've already had reports that he has been very strange since over the summer, that he has become reclusive," Colwin said. "This manifesto, these [are] rantings and ravings of an individual that obviously has some aberrant thoughts in his mind, and that's why he put it down on paper. So all of that is certainly very disturbing."

"The defense is going to have to evaluate whether this is an individual that really will even understand the charges," she continued. "I mean, they may, depending on how aberrant his thoughts are... And if there's some indication that he isn't able to do so, there might have to be some psychological evaluation."

According to Mangione's resume, he has both a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in computer science from the University of Pennsylvania, which is an Ivy League school. He also comes from a wealthy family in Maryland with multiple valuable real estate assets. In the manifesto authorities found, he described health insurance companies as "parasitic." He is expected to be extradited to New York, where he will then be formally arraigned on five charges, including murder.

Last week, a gunman wearing a mask and a hoodie shot the CEO of UnitedHealthcare outside of his hotel. The shooter made their escape on a bike, where they rode to Central Park and then boarded a bus out of the city. Mangione was arrested at a McDonalds in Altoona, Pennsylvania on Monday after an employee alerted police.

Watch the video of the CNN segment below, or at this link.

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