Since Luigi Mangioni was arrested on Monday in Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania police have photographed this guy like a dozen times. They keep releasing new mugshots or in-custody photos of him. Mangioni has now been charged with multiple crimes in Pennsylvania, including possession of an unlicensed firearm (he had a ghost gun on him when he was arrested) and forgery. Pennsylvania isn’t charging him with the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson – it’s a New York crime, and NY authorities are trying to get Luigi extradited to New York. Luigi appeared in a Pennsylvania court on Tuesday and he shouted something to the media as he was being shoved inside the courthouse.

The man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare’s CEO struggled with deputies and shouted while being led into court Tuesday as new details emerged about his possible motivation behind the ambush. In his first public words since a five-day search ended with his arrest at a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania, Luigi Nicholas Mangione emerged from a patrol car shouting about an “insult to the intelligence of the American people” while deputies pushed him inside a courthouse.

The 26-year-old Ivy League graduate from a prominent Maryland real estate family is fighting attempts to extradite him to New York so that he can face a murder charge in the Manhattan killing of Brian Thompson, who led the United States’ largest medical insurance company.

Mangione remained jailed in Pennsylvania, where he was initially charged with possession of an unlicensed firearm, forgery and providing false identification to police. Manhattan prosecutors were beginning to take steps to bring Mangione to New York, but at a brief hearing Tuesday, defense lawyer Thomas Dickey said his client will not waive extradition and instead wants a hearing on the issue. Mangione was denied bail after prosecutors said he was too dangerous to be released.

He mostly stared straight ahead at the hearing, occasionally looking at papers, rocking in his chair or looking back at the gallery. At one point, he began to speak to respond to the court discussion but was quieted by his lawyer.

[From The AP]

There’s psychological analysis needed for why Luigi Mangione has captured the American public’s imagination in this way. Partly, it’s because he is a good-looking guy, but it’s more than that. I haven’t seen anything like this in many years. People are really obsessed though, to the point where even outlets like the NY Times are doing deeper dives on Luigi’s motivations and the mystery of his life. A guy who came from enormous privilege, who had severe back problems for a few years, then disappeared for several months in 2023 because of back surgery, and came out of the experience a different person.

Photos courtesy of social media, Backgrid.