Mangione was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on December 9 following a tip from staff at a McDonald’s restaurant, after a days-long manhunt.
Mangione traveled to New York by bus from Atlanta about 10 days before the crime, the Department of Justice said. After checking into a Manhattan hostel with false identification, he allegedly performed reconnaissance near the victim’s hotel and the conference venue where the shooting took place.
Early on December 4, Mangione tracked Thompson, walked up behind him and fired several gunshots from a pistol with a silencer, the DOJ said. Afterward, Mangione fled on a bicycle.
Thompson’s killing was “a grossly misguided attempt to broadcast Mangione’s views across the country,” Acting US Attorney Edward Kim for the Southern District of New York said.
“But this wasn’t a debate, it was murder.”
Police say a “life-changing, life-altering” back injury may have motivated Mangione, although there was “no indication” he was ever a client of UnitedHealthcare.
When he was arrested, Mangione had a three-page handwritten text criticizing the US health care system, authorities have said.
Reports that the casings of the bullets fired at Thompson had “depose, deny, delay” inscribed on them prompted horror stories on social media about health insurers who allegedly used those very tactics to get out of paying for needed medical care.
Such fights with ailing consumers are only one of the gripes many have with a health system that has also been criticized for mystery billing practices, opaque middlemen, confusing jargon and costly drugs.
According to the federal charges released Thursday, a notebook found on Mangione had an entry from August saying “the target is insurance” because “it checks every box.”
© 2024 AFP
