Luigi Mangione arrives in New York to be tried for “terrorist act”

Luigi Mangione, suspected of having assassinated an American health insurance boss at the beginning of December to take revenge against this sector, was transferred Thursday to New York where justice awaits him in order to try him for murder involving a ” terrorist.”

The transfer was carefully staged by the American authorities. 24-hour news channels showed the 26-year-old, dressed in an orange jumpsuit, being slowly escorted by police officers carrying helmets and machine guns after landing in New York aboard a helicopter.

The city’s mayor, Eric Adams, who heads the New York police force, accompanied the procession.

In the morning, Luigi Mangione appeared in a Pennsylvania state court near where he was arrested on December 9. He did not oppose his transfer to justice in New York, where the murder of the general director of UnitedHealthCarethe country’s first private health insurer, Brian Thompson.

His arrival and departure took place calmly, unlike the day after his arrest, when he appeared very agitated and vehement, throwing the words This is an insult to the intelligence of the American people..

Luigi Mangione could be presented as early as Thursday afternoon in Manhattan federal court, to be served with charges including murder and illegal use of a firearm, according to a court document.

These federal prosecutions are now in addition to those already decided at the local level by a grand jury of citizens of the State of New York, which decided to indict him for murder linked to an “act of terrorism”. The Manhattan prosecutor’s office considers that Luigi Mangione shot and killed the general director of UnitedHealthcareBrian Thompson, 50, to provoke the terror.

When he was arrested, Luigi Mangione was carrying a three-page handwritten text targeting the health insurance sector.

Anger against insurers

The assassination provoked numerous condemnations but also a deluge of hateful comments on social networks against American health insurance programs, illustrating deep anger towards a system accused of prioritizing profit over care and unfairly refusing medical care.

The young man with a degree in computer engineering, a brilliant former student with a passion for video games and from a wealthy and influential family in Baltimore, received a lot of support on social networks.

Thursday morning, a handful of demonstrators traveled to the Hollidaysburg courthouse to demand the release of Luigi. One of them held a sign that read: health insurance practices terrorize the population.

These praises were condemned by the authorities and the New York police expressed concern in an internal memo that Luigi Mangione was becoming a example to follow.

We witnessed a shocking and appalling celebration of cold-blooded murdercastigated Tuesday the boss of the New York police (NYPD), Jessica Tisch, who denounced a rampage on social networks for applaud this cowardly attack.

From December 4, the images captured by video surveillance of the killer coldly holding his weapon and shooting the 50-year-old boss, married and father of two children, went around the world. The suspect managed to flee and leave New York.

Five days later, Luigi Mangione was recognized and arrested in a McDonald’s from Altoona, a small rural town about 300 miles west of New York, Pennsylvania.

Several elements implicate him in the murder, according to the police: his fingerprints were found near the crime scene, as were cartridge cases corresponding to the weapon kit, some elements of which found on him were manufactured using a 3D printer.

Before the courts of the State of New York, he faces a maximum of life in prison without parole.

In federal court, he would face the death penalty.