UnitedHealthcare CEO murder suspect Luigi Mangione charged, family breaks silence

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The McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania, where alleged UnitedHealthcare CEO killer Luigi Mangione was arrested, has been bombarded with negative reviews online following his capture, continuing a strange show of support for the accused murderer.

Dozens of negative reviews have been posted on the establishment's Yelp page within the past two days, most coming after Mangione was arrested on Monday.

He was arrested, initially on unrelated charges, after a McDonald's employee and customer called police because they thought he looked like the person wanted in the New York City shooting death of Brian Thompson.

Many of the reviews mention the restaurant having "rats," referring to snitches, and say they recommend avoiding the place at all costs.

"As a vegan, I give all McDonald's restaurants in the US as low a rating as possible but this particular location serves up some extra rotten meat with a side of snitching," one person wrote.

Another said, "Full of bootlickers and rats. McSnitches get McStitches, as one says. I hope you regret all your decisions."

Contributing to the backlash, another person wrote, "How could you snitch on the guy standing up for the people, to protect the corporate interests that kill us."

Elon Musk offered a solution early Wednesday morning to a claim outlined in the manifesto of alleged UnitedHealthcare CEO killer Luigi Mangione after an X user posted a snippet of the document, criticizing the statement.

In the manifesto, Mangione said the "US has the #1 most expensive healthcare system in the world, yet we rank roughly #42 in life expectancy."

Musk responded to that by saying "super low cost" GLP inhibitors, a medication that treats Type 2 Diabetes and obesity, would improve American healthcare more than anything.

"Nothing would do more to improve the health, lifespan and quality of life for Americans than making GLP inhibitors super low cost to the public," Musk wrote on X. "Nothing else is even close."

Thomas Dickey, the defense attorney for UnitedHealthcare CEO murder suspect Luigi Mangione, said people have contacted his office and offered to pay the accused killer's legal bills.

During a Tuesday night appearance on CNN's "The Source with Kaitlin Collins," Dickey said people have reached out through email offering to help pay Mangione's legal bills.

"I have not seen them personally, but my understanding from my staff is people are doing that," Dickey said.

Collins then asked Dickey why he thinks people are making that offer, to which he said he believes it has to do with free speech.

"Maybe these people were exercising their right to free speech and they're saying that's the way they're supporting my client," Dickey said.

Police in Altoona, Iowa, redirected those following the manhunt for the UnitedHealthcare CEO killer to the Pennsylvania agency who arrested suspect Luigi Mangione after receiving tags on social media about the capture.

The department said many social media users were tagging them in posts celebrating, and even criticizing, the Monday arrest of Mangione at an Altoona, Pennsylvania, McDonald's.

In a Facebook post, the Iowa department said, in part, "thanks to our sister-city-name, Altoona Police Department – Altoona, PA, for their quick response to the McDonald's – also not in IOWA - to make the arrest."

The department said while it appreciates the support, it is being directed at the wrong police force.

"So, this is Altoona IOWA Police Department. We enjoy reading the tags and comments intended for PA (some of them are not so Iowa nice), but they go unread by the APD - PA, just by us Midwesterners," the post read.

The Iowa agency wrapped up the post by thanking the Altoona, Pennsylvania, agency for capturing "a suspected killer" and said they'll treat the team to a McDonald's ice cream cone if they're ever in town.

A top NYPD official shared that the agency has lasered in on halting “copy-cat activity” following the shooting of the UnitedHealthcare CEO.

The New York Police Department's Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence & Counterterrorism Rebecca Weiner told WABC-TV that the agency is working to get ahead of any copy-cats.

“Whenever an incident of this high prominence takes place, our work is to get ahead of any residence, in particular any copy-cat activity that it may inspire,” he said.

Weiner said that she believes that people are intrigued by this shooting because of the suspect's twist of fate.

“That extraordinary shift in fate, from all the background that led him to where he is today, is what has the world so intrigued by this incident," she said.

Luigi Mangione, the former Ivy League student, was arrested and charged in Pennsylvania on Monday in connection to the apparent assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City last week. 

Fox News obtained the police report that detailed the manifesto that Luigi Mangione penned prior to allegedly shooting United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

The three-page manifesto attacked the health care system as well as attacking corporate greed.

The Ivy League computer scientist graduate wrote that he went after the 50-year-old CEO at the healthcare conference because of the public nature of the event.

Luigi Mangione's former roommate said that the suspected killer's actions were "incompatible" with the person he knew, saying that it was like “two completely different human beings.”

R.J. Martin, the former roommate of Mangione, discussed on Fox News' Jesse Watters' Primetime his time with the Ivy League graduate turned suspected killer of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, saying that the pair were close friends and shared common pastimes together.

“It feels strange because he was a great friend and I considered him a close friend," he said. “And that someone who would assassinate somebody is completely incompatible with the person that I lived with, the person I cooked meals with, the person that was part of book club and other activities with.”

“It's like two completely different human beings,” he said.

Martin said that, to his knowledge, Mangione did not do drugs.

Luigi Mangione, the suspect charged in the ambush shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, had struggled with back pain and the fallout from a spinal surgery, according to reports.

Luigi Mangione, 26, told former roommates that he suffered from chronic back pain and a pinched nerve, according to CivilBeat, a Honolulu-based publication.

Mangione lived there for at least six months in 2022, according to former roommate RJ Martin, who told the outlet that Mangione's lower back problems affected him for years due to misaligned vertebrae that could sometimes pinch his spinal cord.

Mangione told his roommate he'd gotten surgery after moving out of the Surfbreak co-op where they lived together, then "he went radio silent."

Fox News Digital's Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.

The neighbors of Brian Thompson’s family spoke with Fox News Digital on Tuesday, expressing shock and dismay nearly a week after the UnitedHealthcare CEO’s Dec. 4 murder.

Speaking from their houses in Maple Grove, Minnesota, the locals told Fox News Digital that the murder was tragic and expressed contempt for the suspect. Some residents of the wealthy, tight-knit community declined to comment on the incident, citing concern for the victim’s family.

One resident, who asked to stay anonymous, described the shooting as “definitely a bad thing.” The woman went on to compare Thompson’s assassination to chaos at the Southern border, and expressed that law and order must be respected.

Another woman told Fox News Digital that she heard about the shooting but had no idea the Thompsons lived so close to her.

“Oh my gosh. I had no idea that was so close to home,” the resident, who preferred to remain anonymous, said. “Honestly, my immediate reaction is just shock. I kind of did notice a little more police activity … but I thought that was a little weird. I did not pick up on that.”

The local expressed sympathy for Thompson’s sons and said: “I’m just shocked, really.”

The Pennsylvania attorney for UnitedHealthcare CEO murder suspect Luigi Mangione said he would "possibly' represent his client in New York.

When asked by reporters if he would be willing to represent Mangione in New York, the suspect's attorney, Thomas Dickey, said that it could be a “possibility.”

“If that happens, then that could be a possibility,” Dickey said on Monday, Dec. 10 in a press conference. 

Dickey, who said he had 41 years of criminal defense experience, said that he is not barred in New York, but could be admitted to practice law.

“You can get admitted because I've been doing this for 41 years,” he said. “I don't want to speculate about anything. If that opportunity presented itself… I certainly would consider it.”

According to the New York State Unified Court System, attorneys may be eligible for admission on motion if they have practiced law for five of the last seven years, if they are admitted to practice in at least one reciprocal U.S. jurisdiction, and if they graduated from an American Bar Association approved law school.

Thomas Dickey, the attorney representing Luigi Mangione in Pennsylvania, said that he “made a strong bond” with his client.

“I'm pleased with our relationship,” Dickey told reporters in a press conference on Tuesday, Dec. 10.

“I think we've made a strong bond,” he said. “And I'm looking forward to, moving forward, helping him out.”

When asked what his first impressions of 26-year-old Mangione were, Dickey said that he focused on forming a bond with his client.

“I wasn't looking for impressions. What I was trying to do, was form a bond with my client,” he said. “I want him to trust me, and I want him to be confident that I'm here for him.”

“And I'm very pleased of how that went,” he said.

Thomas Dickey, the attorney representing Luigi Mangione in Pennsylvania said that he has seen “no evidence” that his client is guilty of shooting United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

“Listen, I haven't seen any evidence that says that he's the shooter,” Dickey told reporters on Tuesday, Dec. 10.

“So… I wasn't kidding around a couple things. If you're going to report something, report it accurately. And remember, and this is not just a small thing, it's fundamental, the concept of American justice is a presumption of innocence,” he said. “And until you're proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt.”

“And I've seen zero evidence at this point. And so I'm not even aware of what any charges are," he said.

Later in the press conference, Dickey reiterated that he had not seen "one scintilla, one speck, one drop" of evidence.

"It would take too long for me to get into all that," he said, speaking of the decision to not waive extradition. "We're testing a process. I haven't seen anything, I have not seen one scintilla, one speck, one drop of any evidence yet."

Mangione has been charged in Pennsylvania with one count of forging a document and criminally possessing a firearm, court documents show. He was charged in New York with second-degree murder.

He has pleaded not guilty to charges in Pennsylvania. 

Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old Ivy League grad accused of gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in cold blood on a New York City sidewalk, was silent as he was walked out of a Pennsylvania courthouse Tuesday afternoon.

Mangione will fight extradition to New York, but DA Alvin Bragg's office has vowed to get Mangione to NYC to face justice as fast as possible.

Mangione's exit from court was significantly less dramatic than his entrance, where he screamed and thrashed violently as officers attempted to control him.

"It's completely out of touch, and an insult to the intelligence of the American people and its lived experience," Mangione shouted, prompting his detail of about 10 officers to hurry him inside.

The attorney representing Luigi Mangione, the suspect accused of shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on the morning of Dec. 4 in Manhattan, told reporters on Tuesday that he was retained by Mangione.

"We did not waive extradition and we're contesting extradition. We are going to fight this along the rules and with the constitutional protections that my client has," Mangione's attorney, Thomas Dickey, told reporters outside the Blair County Courthouse.

Mangione, 26, was arrested Monday morning at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania, after an employee apparently recognized him with his mask on. When police apprehended the suspect, he had a laptop and a backpack containing a firearm and silencer, $8,000 in U.S. currency, $2,000 in foreign currency, a passport and a fake ID, Blair County District Attorney Peter Weeks, Esq., said during the extradition hearing Tuesday.

Weeks later told reporters during a press conference that he has been collaborating with New York City prosecutors and law enforcement regarding Mangione's extradition to Manhattan, where he is charged with second-degree murder.

"We're going to do what's necessary to get the governor's warrant and we're working with the New York City Police Department and the Manhattan DA's Office, and we're gonna get the defendant out there so they can prosecute him on their charges, so waiving [extradition] accelerates that process," Weeks said.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a Tuesday statement that she is "deeply grateful to the men and women of law enforcement whose efforts to solve the horrific murder of Brian Thompson led to the arrest of a suspect in Pennsylvania."

"I am coordinating with the District Attorney's Office and will sign a request for a governor's warrant to ensure this individual is tried and held accountable," Hochul said. "Public safety is my top priority and I'll do everything in my power to keep the streets of New York safe."

Blair County Judge Dave Consiglio also denied bail for Mangione on Tuesday.

Luigi Mangione possibly sustained a back injury last year, authorities said Tuesday, citing his alleged manifesto and social media activity.

NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said Mangione may have sustained the injury on July 4, 2023.

"He was posting an X-ray on his social media. Some of the writings that he had, he was discussing the difficulty of sustaining that injury," Kenny told “Your World with Neil Cavuto.” "So we're looking into whether or not the insurance industry either denied a claim from him or didn't help him out to the fullest extent.”

In the manifesto, Mangione mentioned UnitedHealthcare specifically, Kenny said.

The NYPD received more than 200 tips that investigators vetted, Kenny said.

“But not one of those tips named him,” he said.

The White House called the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson “horrific,” while also condemning violence to fight “corporate greed.”

“Obviously, this is horrific. Violence to combat any sort of corporate greed is unacceptable,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Tuesday.

Jean-Pierre offered condolences to Thompson's loved ones, but declined to comment on the investigation into his murder or the manifesto allegedly penned by suspect Luigi Mangione.

CEO murder suspect Luigi Mangione was "shocked" to see NYPD detectives in Pennsylvania after he was arrested in Altoona on Monday, Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kaz Daughtry told Fox News.

Daughtry told Martha MacCallum that when New York detectives walked into the interview room to speak with Mangione, he was "shocked to see that the NYPD in was down in Altoona, Pennsylvania."

"He could not believe that NYPD detectives were sitting in that room," he continued.

Daughtry said if you commit a crime in NYC, the NYPD will "go anywhere to bring you back to answer to the crimes in New York City."

Daughtry and NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell also highlighted how police images released of Mangione were key to catching him following a days-long manhunt.

“We have video canvassing. We have ballistics. We have forensics. We have a cab. We have a hostel. These are monumental pieces of evidence,” Chell told Fox News.

Chell noted that “at the end of the day,” photos of the suspect made all the difference.

“The public saw something and said something and got involved,” he said.

Fox News Digital's Louis Casiano contributed to this report.