Luigi Mangione had an emotional outburst as police walked him into a Pennsylvania courthouse for an extradition hearing Tuesday, exclaiming, “It’s completely out of touch.”
“It’s an insult to the intelligence of the American people,” the accused UnitedHealth exec killer, who was wearing an orange jumpsuit, continued before adding something unintelligible.
Mangione, who is suspected of shooting dead UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, was denied bail and indicated that he would fight his extradition to New York, where the crime occurred.
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Before the hearing, Mangione appeared agitated as he was hauled into court in Hollidaysburg, Pa., outside of Altoona, where he was busted the previous day at a McDonald’s.
The gathered press outside the courthouse had been peppering him with questions when he began shouting, “It’s completely out of touch,” though other reports suggest that he said, “It’s completely unjust.”
The officers escorting Mangione during the chaotic scene wrestled him against the wall as he continued his rant.
It’s not clear what Mangione’s remark was in reference to, but it’s the first public sign of transparent indignation the alleged assassin has so far shown.
In the courtroom, Mangione’s lawyer, Thomas Dickey, largely spoke on his behalf, at one point cutting his client off when the suspect piped up to explain why he was wearing a mask when he was arrested.
“No, no. Don’t say a word,” Dickey said to him, after shushing, according to The New York Times.
Dickey asked the court to set bail for Mangione, but the judge refused, meaning that he will remain, for the time being, in a Pennsylvania detention center, the newspaper reported.
While Mangione had faced extradition to New York, his lawyer told the judge that the alleged killer is contesting his transfer.
The judge gave Mangione 14 days to file a petition protesting extradition, in which case a hearing will be scheduled. The process to determine whether to transfer Mangione could take weeks or months, the Times reported.
During his first court appearance, an arraignment hearing Monday night, Mangione insisted on addressing prosecutor’s claim that he was found with $10,000 in cash and a bag designed to block cellphone signals.
‘I’d like to correct two things,’” Mangione said in response to a prosecutor’s remarks, according to CNN. ‘I don’t know where any of that money came from—I’m not sure if it was planted. And also, that bag was waterproof, so I don’t know about criminal sophistication.’”
Mangione was arrested earlier on Monday at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Police said that he had on his person a gun, fake IDs, and a hand-scrawled note condemning the health insurance industry.
In the day since his arrest, intrigue has abounded and rumors have swirled around Mangione’s background, motivation for the killing, political and social beliefs, and mental state.
Some who knew him have described Mangione—who studied computer science at the University of Pennsylvania after graduating a prep school in Baltimore as valedictorian—as a friendly, intelligent young man, with a wealthy background.
There are indications, though, that a confluence of health issues, a lost job, and radical political ideas may have coincided with a shift in his personality over the past year.
Mangione’s loved ones had reportedly been concerned about him in recent weeks, with a report in The New York Post suggesting his mother had told authorities that he was missing last month.
