What’s New
An attorney said the pace of proceedings in the Luigi Mangione case is beyond “unusual” as Mangione arrived in New York on Thursday.
“Unusual is an understatement,” attorney Brian Buckmire said during an appearance on ABC News Live. “In my decade of practicing in the state of New York, specifically in New York City, being able to practice both in New York Criminal Court, Supreme Court, Brooklyn and all over, and also practicing in the Southern District of New York, where Luigi Mangione will be prosecuted, I’ve never seen things move this quickly.”
Why It Matters
Mangione face two counts of stalking, one count of murder through use of a firearm and a firearms offense, according to a federal complaint unsealed on Thursday.
The CEO of UnitedHealthcare, 50-year-old Brian Thompson, was fatally shot outside a Hilton hotel in Midtown Manhattan on December 4. The suspect fled following the shooting.
Mangione, 26, was taken into custody at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on December 9 in connection with the killing. He also faces multiple state charges in New York and Pennsylvania.
AP Photo/Pamela Smith
What To Know
Buckmire said Mangione will likely be tried on the federal charges first, and the state charges will be placed “on somewhat of a pause” until the federal case is resolved.
Mangione waived extradition during a hearing at a Pennsylvania courthouse on Thursday. He boarded a plane to New York shortly after the hearing, then took an NYPD helicopter from Long Island to Manhattan.
Mangione was escorted to the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Courthouse to be arraigned on the charges. Protesters supporting the suspect gathered outside the courthouse, with some holding signs with messages like “Luigi freed us” and “deny, defend, depose.”
What People Are Saying
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, at a news conference Tuesday: “This was a killing that was intended to evoke terror and we’ve seen that reaction.”
John Miller, former NYPD chief spokesman, on CNN: “The security around Mangione today is because of what they’re seeing in terms of public support for him.”
What Happens Next
Mangione faces charges in three different jurisdictions. Blair County District Attorney Peter Weeks said on Thursday that his office’s case will remain “active,” but Mangione will not have to face it until the New York case is concluded.
“As a practical matter it would have been laughable and a waste of resources and time for us to try and keep this defendant for our charges, and delay New York’s custody of the defendant for the more serious case,” Weeks said.
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