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The suspect in the murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City faced an extradition hearing on murder charges on Tuesday afternoon.
Luigi Mangione contested extradition to New York but was denied bail and remanded to State Correctional Institution Huntingdon in Huntingdon County. The state of Pennsylvania has 30 days to get a warrant from NY Gov. Kathy Hochul for extradition to NY. Mangione has been charged in NY with one count of second-degree murder, two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, one count of second-degree possession of a forged document, and one count of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, online court documents show. He also faces gun charges in Pennsylvania related to the firearm police found on him when he was arrested on Monday.
Mangione was seen on video pulling away from members of the Blair County Sheriff’s Department before entering the courthouse, screaming: “This is completely unjust and an insult to the American people!” He was pinned against a wall before being forced inside.
Per NBC News, Mangione was arrested yesterday morning at a McDonald’s restaurant in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on a tip from an employee. Authorities said he had a gun similar to the one used in the shooting, a silencer and a fake ID. In handwritten notes, he said “these parasites had it coming” and that he “wasn’t working with anyone.”
According to a confidential assessment of the crime by the NYPD intelligence bureau (based in part on the suspect’s writings) and reported by ABC News, Mangione “appeared to view the targeted killing … as a symbolic takedown and a direct challenge to its alleged corruption and ‘power games.’” The suspect allegedly described himself as the “first to face” United Healthcare “with such brutal honesty.”
Additionally, according to the New York arrest warrant when arrested on Monday, Mangione had “written admissions about the crime” with him along with several handwritten pages expressing “disdain for corporate America.” NYPD Chief of Detective Joe Kenny said on Tuesday that Mangione indicated “he’s frustrated with the health care system in the United States. Specifically, he states how we are the No. 1 most expensive health care system in the world, yet the life expectancy of an American is ranked 42 in the world.”
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