Luigi Mangione updates: Lawyer reveals reason behind UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting suspect’s court outburst

Luigi Mangione, the suspected UnitedHealthcare CEO shooter, repeatedly shared his fury at the healthcare system and revealed a “nuclear option” to get doctors to approve health care procedures, according to an archived Reddit post.

Mangione, who is said to have had a spinal fusion surgery in 2023, complained on the site that medical authorities didn’t take people’s pain seriously, according to The Washington Post.

“Tell them you are ‘unable to work’ / do your job,” he wrote in one post. “We live in a capitalist society. I’ve found that the medical industry responds to these key words far more urgently than you describing unbearable pain and how it’s impacting your quality of life.”

In another post, he told readers they could fake difficulty using their feet to convince doctors to give them back surgery.

“This is the absolute nuclear option, but there comes a point where it’s just ridiculous that people won’t operate on your broken spine,” he said.

Brian Thompson was laid to rest at a private funeral service in his Minnesota hometown on Monday.

That same day, Luigi Mangione was arrested in Pennsylvania and charged with murder in connection to the UnitedHealthcare CEO’s death.

The 26-year-old suspect was taken into custody in Altoona and is now being held without bond in Pennsylvania as he faces charges in two states. Mangione appeared for a hearing on Tuesday in Pennsylvania, where he fought extradition to New York to face charges.

Here’s what to know about the slain health insurer.

A legal committee has raised more than $45,000 to pay for Luigi Mangione’s legal bills as he faces charges in both Pennsylvania and New York.

The December 4th Legal Committee launched the public appeal on Christian fundraising site GiveSendGo, which garnered the vast sum after the 26-year-old was charged in Altoona, Pennsylvania on Monday. The fundraiser has a goal of $200,000.

“We are dedicated to ensuring that he gets a fair trial with competent legal counsel,” said Carol Sherman, an organizer with the December 4th Legal Committee.

The group says that proceeds will go to “other political prisoners in the US” if Mangione’s charges are dropped, or he rejects the funds.

It follows Mangione’s lawyer, Thomas Dickey, telling CNN on Tuesday that his staff have gotten offers from the public to pay for his client’s legal fees.

The man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson followed Richard Dawkins and RFK Jr, tweeted about neuroscience and Japanese birth rates, and shared posts about how to think more logically.

The 26-year-old was fascinated by AI and decision theory; pro-technology but anti-smartphones; secular and scientific in his outlook, but in favour of religion on Darwinian grounds.

So, what does it all mean?

Luigi Mangione’s defense attorney Thomas Dickey has spoken out about his client’s outburst outside a Pennsylvania courthouse earlier this week.

The suspect faced an extradition hearing Tuesday in Pennsylvania after New York prosecutors charged him with second-degree murder in connection with last week’s brazen killing in Midtown Manhattan.

“It’s completely out of touch and an insult to the intelligence of the American people and their lived experience!,” Mangione yelled as he was escorted in handcuffs into the Blair County Courthouse.

Speaking on CNN, Dickey shed light on why he believes the 26-year-old suspect became “agitated”.

“He’s irritated. Agitated about what’s happening to him and what he’s being accused of,” he said on Wednesday. “He never had any legal representation until he walked into that building yesterday.”

Dickey said that Mangione began acting differently after the hearing because he found “somebody that he can trust”.

“If you notice, look at the film, look at the difference between when he went in and when he came out,” Dickey continued.

“Once he got in, he finally had legal representation. I like to think he had somebody that he can trust and has faith in. Now he has a spokesperson and someone that’s going to fight for him.”

A professor at the University of Pennsylvania, the Ivy League institution UnitedHealthcare shooting suspect Luigi Mangione attended, is retracting her social media posts that appeared to praise him.

Julia Alekseyeva, an Assistant Professor of English and Cinema and Media Studies, posted a TikTok video on Monday night swaying her left index finger back and forth to the tune of “Do You Hear the People Sing?” from the musical Les Misérables.

She wrote: “Have never been prouder to be a professor at the University of Pennsylvania.” The post appeared to refer to Mangione’s prior attendance at the university, where he obtained undergraduate and postgraduate degrees. He also worked as a teaching assistant at the university after graduation.

Michelle Del Ray has the full story.

The fallout from the fatal shooting of United Healthcare CEO Brain Thompson has led to a tumble in stock values for major insurance companies.

Thompson was shot and killed by a masked gunman, suspected to be 26-year-old Luigi Mangione a week ago in what is believed to be a targeted attack apparently based in part on grievances with the U.S. health insurance system.

The shocking nature of the shooting has shined a glaring spotlight on the worst parts of health insurance companies’ policies leading to a small anti-health insurance company movement online.

Ariana Baio has the full story.

On Wednesday, police announced that the ghost gun found on Luigi Mangione upon his arrest earlier this week matches the shell casings found at the scene of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s murder in Manhattan last Wednesday.

But what is a ghost gun, and how is one made?

A ghost gun is a homemade firearm that bears no serial number, meaning it cannot be traced back to its original buyer if it is used in a crime.

It has always been possible to build such guns, but 3D printing has made it easier than ever before, and blueprints to do so are widely circulated on the internet.

Until recently, a quirk in US firearms laws made it unclear whether these sorts of guns could even be regulated.

A swathe of companies began selling build-it-yourself firearm kits containing all the components that make up a gun, except for the “frame”.

Users could utilize tools or a 3D printer to complete the kit by building their own receiver or frame, creating a usable and untraceable gun.