Luigi Mangione Gets Presidential Treatment as He Arrives in NYC
Luigi Mangione’s return to New York City was more befitting of a president or a pope than a suspected assassin.
Little more than two weeks after he is alleged to have gunned down the chief executive for the nation’s largest health insurer in Midtown Manhattan, the curly-haired, sharp-jawed former Ivy Leaguer emerged from a helicopter on a helipad overlooking the East River.
Freshly extradited from Pennsylvania, Mangione appeared handcuffed in a prison-issue orange jumpsuit. He was immediately swarmed by dozens of law enforcement officers, some of them holding rifles. The cameras of every major cable news station were trained on the 26-year-old software engineer.
Even embattled New York City Mayor Eric Adams was waiting on the pad, ready to escort Mangione—an attempt at “leading from the front,” he would soon tell the gathered reporters.
Traffic at the Downtown Manhattan Heliport, the venue of Mangione’s entrance, typically comes from top Wall Street executives. It is where Marine One, the presidential helicopter, often touches down in the city.
Mangione’s arrival was unusually circus-like, even for a high-profile suspect in a federal case, according to John Miller, CNN’s chief law enforcement analyst, who was once a deputy commissioner for the NYPD.
Someone accused of a “particularly heinous” crime might receive some increased security measures, like a bullet-proof vest, for their own protection.
“In this case, it’s upside-down,” Miller said. “The security around Mangione today is because of what they’ve been seeing in terms of the public support for him and their security worries about somebody not trying to attack him, but to try and free him from law enforcement.”
Media fervor hit a fever pitch when Mangione, who stands accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, was arrested and his name was released. Rather than just outcry over the murder, he was met with praise, especially on social media, as waves of details about his background and the possible ideological underpinnings of his crime emerged.
The public image that has formed of Mangione is one of a well-educated, physically active, friendly young man, someone who was driven to brazen act of violence by his dismay with an unjust system.
The killing has stoked discussion about health-insurance industry practices to avoid paying out on claims—which, based on the brief manifesto reportedly penned by Mangione after the shooting, would seem to have been among assassin’s goals.
The significant online support for Mangione has drawn condemnation from some, especially pundits and politicians on the right.
Meanwhile, a recent Emerson College poll found that 22 percent of Democrats, compared to 12 percent of Republicans, found Thompson’s killing acceptable. For voters under 30, the figure was 41 percent.
At his extradition hearing earlier on Thursday, supporters with signs that read “Free Luigi” thronged around the Pennsylvania courthouse. Meanwhile, an online fundraiser for Mangione’s legal defense has raised over $150,000.
And in the hours since Mangione was perp-walked across the helipad, social media users have compared the image to various pop-culture and religious iconography—including Jesus Christ being led to his crucifixion by Roman soldiers, Superman in military custody, and Konstantin Korobov’s painting of the Lamb of God being ripped apart by wolves.
As Mangione’s star-studded legal team readies to face federal charges in New York, Mangione’s entrance to the city isn’t likely to be the last spectacle.
