Mangione has been in custody since his arrest and has not yet entered a plea. His New York defence lawyer, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, has said he has been “overcharged” and that he would fight the charges in court.
Mangione was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on December 9, five days after Thompson was fatally shot outside a Manhattan hotel before a company conference in what law-enforcement officials have called a premeditated assassination.
Loading
While the killing of Thompson has been broadly condemned, Mangione has been feted as a folk hero by some Americans who decry the steep costs of healthcare and the power that insurance companies have to deny paying for some medical treatments. Federal charges potentially allow prosecutors to pursue the death penalty, which has been abolished in New York for decades.
Prosecutors say that Mangione “travelled in interstate commerce” by taking a bus from Atlanta to New York before Thompson’s killing and also used his mobile phone and the internet to plan and carry out his attack, and so have jurisdiction.
Mangione was due to make an initial court appearance on the federal charges before US Magistrate Judge Katharine Parker in Manhattan later.
“The federal government’s reported decision to pile on top of an already overcharged first-degree murder and state terror case is highly unusual and raises serious constitutional and statutory double jeopardy concerns,” Mangione’s lawyer Friedman Agnifilo said in a statement. “We are ready to fight these charges in whatever court they are brought.”
In Pennsylvania, police said Mangione had a self-assembled 9mm handgun in his backpack and a homemade silencer when he was arrested after being spotted at a McDonald’s restaurant. The handgun resembled the weapon used to kill Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare, the largest U.S. health insurer.
Loading
Mangione, a Maryland native who had lived in Hawaii, also had multiple fake identification documents, including a fake New Jersey ID that was used to check into a Manhattan hostel days before Thompson’s shooting, police said.
In Pennsylvania, Mangione has been charged with forgery and illegally possessing an unlicensed gun.
At the Blair County courthouse, Mangione, appearing in an orange jail jumpsuit, had a preliminary hearing for the Pennsylvania charges, immediately followed by a second on New York’s extradition request. A small crowd of supporters stood outside the courthouse, some waving signs that condemned the health insurance industry.
Loading
The Pennsylvania prosecutors told the court they had agreed to pause the Pennsylvania proceedings until after the conclusion of the New York prosecutions.
Mangione spoke only briefly at the extradition hearing, saying he understood his rights and telling Judge David Consiglio he consented to surrender to New York police.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office is accusing Mangione of an act of terrorism under New York law because Thompson’s killing was intended to intimidate or coerce civilians or “influence the policies of a unit of government.”
Reuters
Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter.
