As Luigi Mangione, the accused killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, was brought to New York after he agreed to face the charges in New York and did not challenge his extradition from Pennsylvania to New York, he was made to do a perp walk amid a heavy police presence. New York mayor Eric Adams was also there as the accused was paraded.
“Luigi Mangione was brought back to New York City to answer to the charges in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Those who bring illegal guns to our city will face justice. I want to thank all the individuals and law enforcement who helped bring this suspect into custody. The NYPD stops at nothing to catch criminals,” Eric Adams posted on X sharing the photos and videos of the perp walk.
Luigi Mangione has already attained the status of a hero as people are rallying behind him collecting funds for his legal defense. His new shaved look also created chatter among social media users as he appeared in the Pennsylvania court today before his extradition.
Commenting on the ‘walk of shame’, many social media users said the walk would only make Luigi Mangione a martyr.
“Luigi Mangione may be a terrorist but this walk of shame treatment he’s getting will have the opposite effect. They’re inadvertently turning him into a martyr,” one wrote.
“That was one big performance by the NYPD and it backfired spectacularly. Their goal was to make Luigi Mangione look like a Batman villain. Instead it made him look like a folk hero who fought back against the system that puts profits over our own lives,” one wrote.
“Sorry, but what is this procession? Did they deploy the army just to escort a handcuffed graduate for ten meters? Is Christopher Nolan directing this? Seriously, someone explain the necessity of this parade of extras…” another wrote.
As Luigi Mangione arrived in New York, federal murder charges were slapped on him in addition to the state charges. The federal murder charge makes him eligible for the death penalty though New York abolished the death penalty decades ago.