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Luigi Mangione’s attorneys have submitted a motion requesting a New York judge to permit the suspect in the 2024 assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson to attend court without handcuffs or a bulletproof vest, claiming that these visible restraints are unnecessary.
The Tuesday motion comes ahead of Mangione’s scheduled court appearance on June 26.
This request, presented to Justice Gregory Carro of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, seeks approval for Mangione to sit at the defense table with hands unshackled and in typical courtroom attire.
His defense team argues that the security measures, especially the use of shackles and a bulletproof vest, are not essential for safety and instead perpetuate a harmful public image of Mangione as a threat. They contend that the visual effect of such restraints, often captured by media coverage, harms his presumption of innocence.
Mangione, a Maryland man, is the suspect in the assassination of Thompson on Dec. 4, 2024 in New York City.
Thompson was shot from behind outside a New York City Hilton hotel just hours before a shareholder conference. At the crime scene, police discovered bullet casings with handwritten words: “depose,” “deny,” and “defend,” which drew comparisons to the book “Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don’t Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It.”
The now 27-year-old was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania, while eating breakfast after a McDonald’s customer and employee recognized him from a wanted poster.
Luigi Mangione, 26, is charged with first-degree murder in New York in connection with the Dec. 4 execution of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. (David Dee Delagado for Fox News Digital/Businesswire)
A federal grand jury indicted Mangione on four counts: murder through the use of a firearm, a firearms offense and two counts of stalking. If he is found guilty, he could be eligible for the death penalty.
In addition to the federal indictment, Mangione has been charged in Pennsylvania and New York.
In Pennsylvania, where he was arrested, Mangione has been charged with carrying a firearm without a license, forgery, providing false identification to law enforcement, and possession of instruments of crime. These charges remain pending.
In New York State, Mangione faces 11 charges, the most serious being first-degree murder as an act of terrorism. Prosecutors allege the murder was committed to intimidate or coerce a group and to influence government policy. Other charges include multiple counts of criminal possession of a weapon related to a ghost gun and silencer, as well as criminal possession of a forged instrument for using a fake New Jersey driver’s license to check into a hostel near the crime scene.
His next state court appearance is set for June 26, while his federal court hearing is scheduled for Dec. 5.
