((Automated translation by Reuters, please see disclaimer https://bit.ly/rtrsauto))
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Suspect, en route to Manhattan, waives his right to extradition proceedings
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Defense lawyer says Mangione was ‘overloaded’
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Mangione faces 11-count indictment in New York, including murder as an act of terrorism
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According to the New York Times, Mangione is also facing federal charges
(Added comment from Mangione’s New York defense attorney in paragraphs 3 and 7) by Julio-Cesar Chavez and Jonathan Allen
The suspect in the murder of UnitedHealth Group executive Brian Thompson was transferred to New York police on Thursday to face murder charges after waiving his right to extradition proceedings during a hearing in a Pennsylvania court.
Luigi Mangione, 26, appeared in an orange jail jumpsuit at the Blair County Courthouse, where he consented to surrender to New York City police officers who also attended the short hearing. He left the courthouse in a New York police vehicle and was expected in Manhattan later Thursday.
A New York grand jury indicted Mangione on 11 counts, including first-degree murder and murder as an act of terrorism. Mangione has been in jail since his arrest. Mangione has not yet entered a plea. His New York lawyer, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, said Mangione had been “overcharged” and would fight the charges in court.
He was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on December 9, five days after Thompson was fatally shot outside a Manhattan hotel before a corporate conference, in what law enforcement officials said described as premeditated murder.
While Thompson’s killing has been widely condemned, Mangione has been feted as a folk hero by some Americans who denounce the high costs of health care and the power of insurance companies to refuse to pay for certain medical treatments. . A small crowd of supporters stood outside the court, some holding signs condemning the health insurance industry.
Late Wednesday, The New York Times reported that Mr. Mangione would also be charged by federal prosecutors in Manhattan, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter. The nature of these accusations was not immediately specified.
Federal prosecutions would eventually allow prosecutors to pursue the death penalty, which has been banned in New York for decades, according to the report. A spokesperson for the Manhattan district attorney’s office declined to comment.
“The federal government’s decision to add to an already overburdened first-degree murder and state terrorism case is highly unusual and raises serious constitutional and statutory issues of double jeopardy,” said Friedman Agnifilo, the attorney. of Mr. Mangione, in a press release. “We are prepared to fight these charges in any court.”
In Pennsylvania, police said Mangione had a 9mm handgun he assembled himself and a homemade silencer in his backpack when he was arrested after being spotted at a McDonald’s restaurant . The handgun resembled the handgun found in Mangione’s backpack. The handgun resembles the one used to kill Thompson, chief executive of UnitedHealthcare, the largest U.S. health insurer.
Mangione, who was originally from Maryland and had lived in Hawaii, also had several fake identification documents, including a fake New Jersey ID card used to check into a Manhattan inn days before Thompson’s killing, a the police said.
In Pennsylvania, Mangione was charged with forgery and illegal possession of a firearm without a license.
At the courthouse Thursday, Mangione had a preliminary hearing for the Pennsylvania charges, immediately followed by a second hearing for the New York extradition request. Pennsylvania prosecutors told the court they agreed to stay the Pennsylvania proceedings until the conclusion of the New York proceedings.
Mangione spoke only briefly during the extradition hearing, saying he understood his rights and telling Judge David Consiglio that he consented to surrender to New York police.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office charges Mangione with committing an act of terrorism under New York law because Thompson’s killing was intended to intimidate or coerce civilians or “influence the politics of a governmental unit”
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