Newly unsealed police body-camera footage has shed fresh light on the arrest of Luigi Mangione inside a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, days after UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was fatally shot in New York.
The hours-long footage, recorded on December 9, 2024, shows police questioning Mangione at the fast-food restaurant before handcuffing him, searching his belongings and taking him to a police station, according to a CNN report.
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The policemen appeared surprised when they found Mangione at the restaurant. “It’s f–king him dude,” a cop is heard telling his colleague, who responds saying, “No f–king way."
Police find gun magazine at McDonald’s
At the station, officers carried out more extensive searches of Mangione and his backpack. The footage captures the moment an officer found a firearm inside the bag, which prosecutors have identified as the weapon used in Thompson’s killing.
The videos are being made public for the first time. Portions of the footage were previously shown during a days long suppression hearing last December, when Mangione’s defence argued that evidence recovered from his backpack should be suppressed because police had improperly searched it.
{{/usCountry}}The videos are being made public for the first time. Portions of the footage were previously shown during a days long suppression hearing last December, when Mangione’s defence argued that evidence recovered from his backpack should be suppressed because police had improperly searched it.
{{/usCountry}}New York State Judge Gregory Carro later ruled that most of the evidence could be used at trial but ordered the videos to remain sealed. He authorised their release after CNN petitioned for the footage to be unsealed following Mangione’s guilty plea to federal charges in August.
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Mangione seeks dismissal of state case
Mangione pleaded guilty to federal charges related to Thompson’s killing. Thompson, 50, was shot on a Manhattan sidewalk in December 2024.
The newly released footage, recorded by the body cameras of eight Altoona police officers, shows multiple angles of the arrest and the moments after officers began questioning Mangione.
Mangione initially handed officers a fake identification card bearing the name “Mark Rosario”, according to the footage. Prosecutors have said the same name was used by the suspect to check into a New York City hostel before Thompson’s killing.
He later provided police with his real name.
Officers handcuffed Mangione inside the McDonald’s and searched his pockets and belongings, including his black backpack. The footage shows police finding a gun magazine wrapped in underwear inside the bag.
Mangione was subsequently taken to the police station, where officers searched him and his belongings again. They recovered a firearm and a notebook containing handwritten entries that prosecutors have described as his “manifesto”.
Mangione’s defence lawyers have since asked Judge Carro to dismiss the state murder case against him following his federal guilty plea. They have argued that proceeding with the state prosecution would violate double-jeopardy protections.
Carro has not yet ruled on the motion. The parties are due to return to state court in December.