Luigi Mangione extradition hearing underway in Pennsylvania after being charged with second-degree murder: Latest

Luigi Mangione has been charged with one count of second-degree murder, two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, one count of second-degree possession of a forged document, and one count of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, according to online court documents.

The gun safety group Giffords released a statement on ghost guns following Mangione’s arrest.

“Ghost guns are a criminal’s dream come true. The targeted assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, potentially committed with a ghost gun, shows just how dangerous these weapons are in the wrong hands,” Giffords Executive Director Emma Brown said.

“Anyone can print them at home or buy unfinished parts online without a background check or training. Yet due to extremists in the gun lobby, the ATF’s rule to stop criminals from getting ghost guns is under threat. Americans’ safety from ghost guns now lies in the hands of the Supreme Court justices. Here’s the bottom line: Ghost guns threaten public safety and must be subject to background checks like the guns they are.”

Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe claimed that Luigi Mangione carrying his gun around the time of his detainment is akin to saying “I did it”.

Mangione was arrested on Monday while eating at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, after being recognized from the images circulated by the NYPD last week.

He allegedly possessed a ghost gun, a suppressor, “multiple fraudulent IDs,” and a handwritten 262-word manifesto that allegedly slammed the health care system, authorities said.

McCabe made the comments to CNN on Tuesday after Mangione was charged with murder in connection to Brian Thompson’s fatal shooting in Midtown Manhattan last week.

“He carried that gun on his person,” McCabe said. “That’s basically like putting a sign in your pocket that says ‘I did it.’”

An extradition hearing for Luigi Mangione will take place this afternoon at 1:30 p.m., according to court officials in Pennsylvania.

The hearing will take place at the Blair County Courthouse, where the suspect was arraigned on Monday night, The New York Times reports.

It follows New York prosecutors filing murder charges against the 26-year-old suspect hours after he faced gun crimes charges in Pennsylvania on Monday, according to a court docket.

NYPD Chief Detective Joseph Kenny said on Monday that Mangione would be extradited to New York to face the murder charge.

Luigi Mangione “likely views himself as a hero,” according to a police report.

An internal New York Police Department report obtained by The New York Times analyses ​​parts of Mangione’s three-page “manifesto,” which was in his possession upon his arrest in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on Monday.

According to The Times, police noted the Brian Thompson shooting suspect “likely views himself as a hero of sorts who has finally decided to act upon such injustices”.

Mangione is believed to have viewed the UnitedHealthcare CEO’s death “as a symbolic takedown and a direct challenge to its alleged corruption and ‘power games,’” as per the document.

The report surfaced in light of Pennsylvania Governor, Josh Shaprio, noting at a news conference on Monday that “in some dark corners, this killer is being hailed as a hero”.

He added: “Hear me on this: He is no hero.”

A McDonald’s customer thought his friend was “kidding” after they pointed out a man inside the restaurant who they thought looked like the “shooter from New York” – then Luigi Mangione was arrested.

Larry, who goes to the Golden Arches daily, was in the Altoona, Pennsylvania, restaurant when the 26-year-old suspect connected to Brian Thompson’s murder walked through the door, according to Fox News.

“One of my friends – and I thought he was kidding – when the shooter… who they made the arrest on came in, he [my friend] made a comment ‘Well, that looks like the shooter from New York,’” Larry told the network.

“But the group of us thought it was more of a joke and we were kidding about it. But then as it turned out, it was him.”

Mangione made an order at the McDonald’s and then headed to the back of the store, Larry said.

“I passed him whenever I left, I left and went to church, [then] came back because I heard there was an arrest,” Larry added.

Set with the task of tracking down a fugitive from the law, you can guarantee social media will track them down in record time – even if the only thing to go by is a small, three-inch gap between a mask and a hood. As was the case with the suspect in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO, Brian Thompson.

The NYPD released a set of images taken in the back of a taxi on Sunday, and within less than 24 hours, the internet had gleaned from the dark, bushy eyebrows alone that it was 26-year-old Luigi Mangione, a Baltimore-born graduate from the University of Pennsylvania, who comes from a prominent family.

But once found, the circus didn’t stop there.

Read Emma Clarke’s article in full below.