Luigi Mangione, the suspected shooter of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, has been charged with second degree murder, forgery and three related gun crimes in New York City.
According to the New York Times, the gun charges include unlawful possession of a loaded firearm, and possession of a suppressor (devices popularly referred to as “silencers” designed to minimize the amount of noise made by a gun).
The charges were laid out Monday night in a Manhattan court room, just hours after Mangione, 26, was arrested and arraigned in Pennsylvania, where he was ordered held without bail.
Thompson, 50, was fatally shot on Dec. 4 while in Manhattan for a company investor meeting. The shooter was captured on video in the act and afterward in video taken by a taxi cab camera.
The shooter also etched the words “deny,” “delay” and “depose” on bullet casings found at the scene, an apparent reference to the nonfiction book “Delay, Deny, Defend” by Jay M. Feinman. The book offers an exhaustive look at the efforts insurance companies take in order to refuse claims made by eligible, paying customers, efforts that have led directly to preventable deaths in thousands of cases.
Prior to Mangione’s arrest, Thompson’s shooter became something of a folk hero on social media where people shared story after story of UnitedHealthcare’s ruthless denial of critical healthcare coverage, and called out Thompson’s sky high salary and the company’s practices under his leadership.
According to the Boston Globe, in 2023, UnitedHealthcare dismissed nearly one out of three claims, double the rate of any other major insurer.