Accused UnitedHealthcare CEO attacker Mangione fights New York extradition
Al Jazeera
Mangione appears in court day after arrest in Pennsylvania for murder of Brian Thompson in Midtown Manhattan.
Luigi Nicholas Mangione, the 26-year-old accused of fatally shooting United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson in a Midtown Manhattan attack last week, has signalled he will fight being extradited to New York to face murder charges.
Mangione appeared in court in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, a day after he was arrested in the town of Altoona following a tip from a McDonald’s employee. He was charged with Thompson’s New York killing hours after his arrest, as well as a slate of lesser offences in Pennsylvania.
Emerging from a police car, Mangione gave a partly unintelligible message to reporters, although he made reference to an “insult to the intelligence of the American people”.
At the brief hearing, his defence lawyer, Thomas Dickey, told the court that Mangione would contest extradition to New York, requesting a hearing on the issue. He has 14 days to lodge a formal challenge to being relocated to New York, and in the meantime, he will be held in Pennsylvania without bail.
While in court, Mangione wore an orange prison jumpsuit, alternating between staring forward, looking at papers and looking back at the gallery. He was quieted at one point by his lawyer when he attempted to speak.
