New York
Hearing in Luigi Mangione’s state murder case sheds new light on his arrest
NEW YORK (AP) — Minutes after police approached Luigi Mangione in a Pennsylvania McDonald’s, he told an officer he didn’t want to talk, according to video and testimony at a court hearing Thursday for the man charged with killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Although some video and accounts of police interactions with Mangione emerged earlier in this week’s hearing, Thursday’s session brought new glimpses of the lead-up to his Dec. 9, 2024, arrest in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
Police had been told that a customer at the McDonald’s resembled the much-publicized suspect in Thompson’s killing, but a pair of officers initially approached Mangione with a low-key tone, saying only that someone had said he looked “suspicious.” Asked for his ID, he gave a phony New Jersey driver’s license with a fake name, according to prosecutors.
Moments later, after frisking Mangione, Officer Joseph Detwiler stepped away to communicate with dispatchers about the license, leaving rookie Officer Tyler Frye by Mangione’s table.
“So what’s going on? What brings you up here from New Jersey,” Frye asked, according to his body-camera video.
Mangione answered in a low voice. Asked what the suspect had said, Frye testified Thursday: “It was something along the lines of: He didn’t want to talk to me at that time.”
Mangione later added that “he was just trying to use the Wi-Fi,” according to Frye.
Mangione, 27, has pleaded not guilty to state and federal murder charges. Before any trials get scheduled, his lawyers are trying to preclude the eventual jurors from hearing about his alleged statements to law officers and items — including a gun and a notebook — they allegedly seized from his backpack.
The evidence is key to prosecutors’ case. They have said that the 9 mm handgun matches the firearm used in the killing, that writings in the notebook laid out Mangione’s disdain for health insurers and ideas about killing a CEO at an investor conference, and that he gave police the same fake name that the alleged gunman used at a New York hostel days before the shooting.
Thursday’s proceedings came on the anniversary of the killing. Thompson, 50, was shot from behind as he walked to an investor conference. He became UnitedHealthcare’s CEO in 2021 and had worked within parent UnitedHealth Group Inc. for 20 years.
The hearing, which started Monday and could extend to next week, applies only to the state case. But it is giving the public an extensive preview of some testimony, video, 911 audio and other records relevant to both cases.
Police interacted with Mangione for roughly 20 minutes before telling him he had the right to remain silent. The officers asked his name, whether he’d been in New York recently and other questions, including: “Why are you nervous?”
Officers tried to play it cool and buy time by intimating that they were simply responding to a loitering complaint and chatting about his steak sandwich. Still, they patted Mangione down and pushed his backpack away from him. About 15 minutes in, they warned him that he was being investigated and would be arrested if he repeated what they had determined was a fake name.
After he gave his real one, he was read his rights, handcuffed, frisked again and ultimately arrested on a forgery charge related to his fake ID.
The video also provided glimpses of officers searching his backpack, a matter that will likely be explored further as the hearing proceeds.
Mangione’s lawyers argue that his statements shouldn’t be allowed as trial evidence because officers started questioning him before reading his rights. They say the items from his backpack should be excluded because police didn’t get a warrant before searching it.
Manhattan prosecutors haven’t yet detailed their arguments for allowing the disputed evidence. Federal prosecutors have maintained that police were justified in searching the backpack to ensure there was nothing dangerous inside, and that Mangione’s statements to officers were voluntary and made before he was under arrest.
Many criminal cases see disputes over evidence and the complicated legal standards governing police searches and interactions with potential suspects.
Hawaii
Honolulu to settle lawsuit over police shooting of Micronesian teen for $1 million
HONOLULU (AP) — Honolulu’s city council on Wednesday authorized $1 million to settle a lawsuit by the family of a 16-year-old boy who was shot and killed by police.
The fatal shooting of Iremamber Sykap in 2021 came amid a national reckoning over police use of force, but the case also highlighted racism toward Micronesians in Hawaii.
If the lawsuit Sykap’s family filed against the city and police officers had gone to trial they would have sought $8 million to $10 million in general damages, their attorney Eric Seitz said.
“Shooting a kid in the back of the head eight times when he wasn’t armed, he didn’t pose any threat to the police officers, is very likely to have really upset a lot of jurors,” he said.
The family accepted far less because of the “undercurrent of racism” in the case, Seitz said.
“If you look at the social media posts about this, there are lots of things talking about ‘dirty Micronesians’ and ‘they got what they deserved’ ... which you know, is very concerning in our community,” he said. “But it’s there. It’s a real factor.”
Sykap’s family is from Chuuk in the Federated States of Micronesia, but he was born in Guam, a U.S. territory.
Honolulu Corporation Counsel Dana Viola told the council that the settlement is reasonable because it keeps the officers from testifying, which could be used against them in a future criminal prosecution because there’s no statute of limitations for murder.
Interim police Chief Rade Vanic said the department supports the settlement.
“Our officers have served this community with professionalism and courage, and they deserve the full protection of their rights,” Mayor Rick Blangiardi said in a statement. “This settlement allows the City to move forward while standing firmly in support of the men and women of the Honolulu Police Department.”
At the time of the shooting police said Sykap was driving a stolen Honda linked to a burglary, purse snatching, car theft and armed robbery and led officers on a chase.
Wisconsin
State high court to decide whether local jails can hold immigrants for federal agency
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A divided Wisconsin Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to take a case brought by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of an immigrant rights group arguing that it is illegal for local jails to hold immigrant detainees at the request of federal authorities.
The Wisconsin lawsuit comes as federal agents have launched high-profile immigration crackdowns in cities including Chicago and Charlotte, North Carolina. Another operation is expected in the coming days in Minnesota, targeting Somali immigrants. The enforcement tactics have been met with protests and lawsuits.
A majority of justices on the Wisconsin Supreme Court voted to take the ACLU case directly as an original action, rather than have it first work its way through lower courts. The court is controlled 4-3 by liberal justices.
Four justices, who were not named, voted to accept the case, while conservative Justices Annette Ziegler and Rebecca Bradley dissented. Justice Brian Hagedorn, who most often sides with conservative justices, wrote separately to discuss the process, but he did not reveal how he voted.
None of the justices discussed the merits of the case in the order agreeing to take it.
The court’s decision means there could be a final ruling in the case by the middle of 2026, far faster than if it first had to wind its way through lower courts. All briefs in the case are due within two months, and the court will set a date for oral argument sometime after that early next year.
The ACLU brought the lawsuit against five county sheriffs in September on behalf of Voces de la Frontera, an immigrant rights group based in Milwaukee.
“This is a historic step toward ensuring that Wisconsin’s law protects all residents, not just those with power and privilege,” said Christine Neumann-Ortiz, executive director of Voces de la Frontera. “Honoring ICE detainers has subjected hardworking immigrants to unlawful arrests for far too long.”
The lawsuit contends that it is illegal for local jails to hold immigrants on detainers sent by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to local sheriff’s offices. The lawsuit was filed against sheriffs in Walworth, Brown, Marathon, Kenosha and Sauk counties, all of which honor those requests.
Sam Hall, one of the attorneys for the sheriffs, said they were reviewing the court’s order and evaluating next steps.
“We are confident, however, that Wisconsin sheriffs who honor ICE detainers do so fully within the bounds of Wisconsin law and the federal legal framework governing immigration enforcement,” he said in an email.
The sheriffs had argued that because the lawsuit involves a complicated area of the law — federal immigration law and the relationship between federal and state and local law enforcement — the case was best “resolved and refined” by first going through the lower courts, rather than skipping directly to the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
Honoring an ICE detainer means the sheriff agrees to hold the person for 48 hours after they otherwise should have been released under state law. The goal of detainers is to give ICE agents more time to pick someone up if they are suspected of being in the country illegally.
The ACLU wants the Wisconsin Supreme Court to prohibit sheriffs from holding people on ICE detainers, which are based on administrative warrants. Holding someone for extra time must be authorized by a judicial warrant, in which a court determines there is probable cause to keep them longer, the ACLU argues in the lawsuit.
The ACLU argues that keeping the person in custody for that extra time constitutes an illegal new arrest. It is illegal because Wisconsin law does not allow officers to make civil arrests except in certain circumstances, none of which apply to immigration enforcement, the lawsuit argues.
In the first seven months of this year, ICE sent more than 700 requests to local jails across Wisconsin, asking them to hold someone 48 hours beyond when they were set to be released, the lawsuit contends.
Republicans in the GOP-controlled Wisconsin Legislature support a bill that would withhold money from counties that don’t comply with ICE detainers. The measure passed the Assembly, and if the Senate approves the bill it would head to Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who is likely to veto it.
Hearing in Luigi Mangione’s state murder case sheds new light on his arrest
NEW YORK (AP) — Minutes after police approached Luigi Mangione in a Pennsylvania McDonald’s, he told an officer he didn’t want to talk, according to video and testimony at a court hearing Thursday for the man charged with killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Although some video and accounts of police interactions with Mangione emerged earlier in this week’s hearing, Thursday’s session brought new glimpses of the lead-up to his Dec. 9, 2024, arrest in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
Police had been told that a customer at the McDonald’s resembled the much-publicized suspect in Thompson’s killing, but a pair of officers initially approached Mangione with a low-key tone, saying only that someone had said he looked “suspicious.” Asked for his ID, he gave a phony New Jersey driver’s license with a fake name, according to prosecutors.
Moments later, after frisking Mangione, Officer Joseph Detwiler stepped away to communicate with dispatchers about the license, leaving rookie Officer Tyler Frye by Mangione’s table.
“So what’s going on? What brings you up here from New Jersey,” Frye asked, according to his body-camera video.
Mangione answered in a low voice. Asked what the suspect had said, Frye testified Thursday: “It was something along the lines of: He didn’t want to talk to me at that time.”
Mangione later added that “he was just trying to use the Wi-Fi,” according to Frye.
Mangione, 27, has pleaded not guilty to state and federal murder charges. Before any trials get scheduled, his lawyers are trying to preclude the eventual jurors from hearing about his alleged statements to law officers and items — including a gun and a notebook — they allegedly seized from his backpack.
The evidence is key to prosecutors’ case. They have said that the 9 mm handgun matches the firearm used in the killing, that writings in the notebook laid out Mangione’s disdain for health insurers and ideas about killing a CEO at an investor conference, and that he gave police the same fake name that the alleged gunman used at a New York hostel days before the shooting.
Thursday’s proceedings came on the anniversary of the killing. Thompson, 50, was shot from behind as he walked to an investor conference. He became UnitedHealthcare’s CEO in 2021 and had worked within parent UnitedHealth Group Inc. for 20 years.
The hearing, which started Monday and could extend to next week, applies only to the state case. But it is giving the public an extensive preview of some testimony, video, 911 audio and other records relevant to both cases.
Police interacted with Mangione for roughly 20 minutes before telling him he had the right to remain silent. The officers asked his name, whether he’d been in New York recently and other questions, including: “Why are you nervous?”
Officers tried to play it cool and buy time by intimating that they were simply responding to a loitering complaint and chatting about his steak sandwich. Still, they patted Mangione down and pushed his backpack away from him. About 15 minutes in, they warned him that he was being investigated and would be arrested if he repeated what they had determined was a fake name.
After he gave his real one, he was read his rights, handcuffed, frisked again and ultimately arrested on a forgery charge related to his fake ID.
The video also provided glimpses of officers searching his backpack, a matter that will likely be explored further as the hearing proceeds.
Mangione’s lawyers argue that his statements shouldn’t be allowed as trial evidence because officers started questioning him before reading his rights. They say the items from his backpack should be excluded because police didn’t get a warrant before searching it.
Manhattan prosecutors haven’t yet detailed their arguments for allowing the disputed evidence. Federal prosecutors have maintained that police were justified in searching the backpack to ensure there was nothing dangerous inside, and that Mangione’s statements to officers were voluntary and made before he was under arrest.
Many criminal cases see disputes over evidence and the complicated legal standards governing police searches and interactions with potential suspects.
Hawaii
Honolulu to settle lawsuit over police shooting of Micronesian teen for $1 million
HONOLULU (AP) — Honolulu’s city council on Wednesday authorized $1 million to settle a lawsuit by the family of a 16-year-old boy who was shot and killed by police.
The fatal shooting of Iremamber Sykap in 2021 came amid a national reckoning over police use of force, but the case also highlighted racism toward Micronesians in Hawaii.
If the lawsuit Sykap’s family filed against the city and police officers had gone to trial they would have sought $8 million to $10 million in general damages, their attorney Eric Seitz said.
“Shooting a kid in the back of the head eight times when he wasn’t armed, he didn’t pose any threat to the police officers, is very likely to have really upset a lot of jurors,” he said.
The family accepted far less because of the “undercurrent of racism” in the case, Seitz said.
“If you look at the social media posts about this, there are lots of things talking about ‘dirty Micronesians’ and ‘they got what they deserved’ ... which you know, is very concerning in our community,” he said. “But it’s there. It’s a real factor.”
Sykap’s family is from Chuuk in the Federated States of Micronesia, but he was born in Guam, a U.S. territory.
Honolulu Corporation Counsel Dana Viola told the council that the settlement is reasonable because it keeps the officers from testifying, which could be used against them in a future criminal prosecution because there’s no statute of limitations for murder.
Interim police Chief Rade Vanic said the department supports the settlement.
“Our officers have served this community with professionalism and courage, and they deserve the full protection of their rights,” Mayor Rick Blangiardi said in a statement. “This settlement allows the City to move forward while standing firmly in support of the men and women of the Honolulu Police Department.”
At the time of the shooting police said Sykap was driving a stolen Honda linked to a burglary, purse snatching, car theft and armed robbery and led officers on a chase.
Wisconsin
State high court to decide whether local jails can hold immigrants for federal agency
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A divided Wisconsin Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to take a case brought by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of an immigrant rights group arguing that it is illegal for local jails to hold immigrant detainees at the request of federal authorities.
The Wisconsin lawsuit comes as federal agents have launched high-profile immigration crackdowns in cities including Chicago and Charlotte, North Carolina. Another operation is expected in the coming days in Minnesota, targeting Somali immigrants. The enforcement tactics have been met with protests and lawsuits.
A majority of justices on the Wisconsin Supreme Court voted to take the ACLU case directly as an original action, rather than have it first work its way through lower courts. The court is controlled 4-3 by liberal justices.
Four justices, who were not named, voted to accept the case, while conservative Justices Annette Ziegler and Rebecca Bradley dissented. Justice Brian Hagedorn, who most often sides with conservative justices, wrote separately to discuss the process, but he did not reveal how he voted.
None of the justices discussed the merits of the case in the order agreeing to take it.
The court’s decision means there could be a final ruling in the case by the middle of 2026, far faster than if it first had to wind its way through lower courts. All briefs in the case are due within two months, and the court will set a date for oral argument sometime after that early next year.
The ACLU brought the lawsuit against five county sheriffs in September on behalf of Voces de la Frontera, an immigrant rights group based in Milwaukee.
“This is a historic step toward ensuring that Wisconsin’s law protects all residents, not just those with power and privilege,” said Christine Neumann-Ortiz, executive director of Voces de la Frontera. “Honoring ICE detainers has subjected hardworking immigrants to unlawful arrests for far too long.”
The lawsuit contends that it is illegal for local jails to hold immigrants on detainers sent by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to local sheriff’s offices. The lawsuit was filed against sheriffs in Walworth, Brown, Marathon, Kenosha and Sauk counties, all of which honor those requests.
Sam Hall, one of the attorneys for the sheriffs, said they were reviewing the court’s order and evaluating next steps.
“We are confident, however, that Wisconsin sheriffs who honor ICE detainers do so fully within the bounds of Wisconsin law and the federal legal framework governing immigration enforcement,” he said in an email.
The sheriffs had argued that because the lawsuit involves a complicated area of the law — federal immigration law and the relationship between federal and state and local law enforcement — the case was best “resolved and refined” by first going through the lower courts, rather than skipping directly to the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
Honoring an ICE detainer means the sheriff agrees to hold the person for 48 hours after they otherwise should have been released under state law. The goal of detainers is to give ICE agents more time to pick someone up if they are suspected of being in the country illegally.
The ACLU wants the Wisconsin Supreme Court to prohibit sheriffs from holding people on ICE detainers, which are based on administrative warrants. Holding someone for extra time must be authorized by a judicial warrant, in which a court determines there is probable cause to keep them longer, the ACLU argues in the lawsuit.
The ACLU argues that keeping the person in custody for that extra time constitutes an illegal new arrest. It is illegal because Wisconsin law does not allow officers to make civil arrests except in certain circumstances, none of which apply to immigration enforcement, the lawsuit argues.
In the first seven months of this year, ICE sent more than 700 requests to local jails across Wisconsin, asking them to hold someone 48 hours beyond when they were set to be released, the lawsuit contends.
Republicans in the GOP-controlled Wisconsin Legislature support a bill that would withhold money from counties that don’t comply with ICE detainers. The measure passed the Assembly, and if the Senate approves the bill it would head to Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who is likely to veto it.
