Luigi Mangione, the 27-year-old suspect in the December 2024 murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, unleashed a fiery outburst decrying “double jeopardy” during his trial scheduling hearing in a Manhattan courtroom on Friday.
Mangione shouted towards reporters after the judge scheduled his state trial for June 8, months ahead of his federal proceedings.
The alleged assassin, who has pleaded not guilty to the high-profile shooting on a Midtown sidewalk, sat quietly in his tan jail uniform until the end of the hearing, when he shouted at reporters as officers escorted him out.
“It’s the same trial twice. One plus one equals two. This is double jeopardy by any common sense!” Mangione shouted, according to a report from the New York Post.
The federal trial in the Southern District of New York is slated for October, with jury selection beginning in September.
The Post reports, “Mangione was charged with the murder in state court first, but the feds swooped in days later with their own case — which sources told The Post was spurred by health insurance industry leaders pressuring the Justice Department to make an example out of him.”
Mangione and his defense team are claiming that the dual trials have an unfair overlap.
Defense attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo argued in court on Friday that the two cases are “unfair.”
“Your honor, Mr. Mangione is being put in an untenable position,” Agnifilo said. “This is a tug of war between two prosecution offices.”
“It’s utterly unfair that they are trying to get two bites of the apple,” the lawyer continued.
Agnifilo also argued during the hearing that the team wouldn’t be prepared for June.
Judge Gregory Carro, unmoved, fired back from the bench, “Be ready.”
The murder of Thompson has sparked national debate over healthcare industry grievances, with many of the left celebrating Mangione as a folk hero frustrated by corporate greed, despite it being clear-cut cold-blooded vigilantism.
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