Bodycam from 2024 McDonald’s arrest unsealed Friday
Luigi Mangione pleaded guilty in August to federal stalking charges and faces life in prison at his December sentencing, the Guardian reported Friday. He also faces state murder charges in New York, though those proceedings have been postponed indefinitely as his lawyers seek to have the case thrown out.
The Guardian’s report accompanied the release of bodycam footage from Mangione’s December 9, 2024 arrest at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, five days after United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson was gunned down outside a midtown Manhattan hotel. A Manhattan judge unsealed the recordings after CNN petitioned for their public disclosure.
In one bodycam clip, officers ask Mangione to lower the face mask he was wearing to hide his identity. “That’s 100% him,” one officer says eagerly as they step outside to speak out of Mangione’s earshot. “I told you, man,” another responds off camera.
Later footage shows an officer searching Mangione’s belongings and smiling widely as she pulls out a gun cartridge, seemingly confirming they had found their suspect.
Parts of the videos were previously shown at a December court hearing where Mangione’s lawyers unsuccessfully sought to throw out key evidence, including his initial statements to police and items seized at the time of his arrest.
Thompson, a 50-year-old Minnesota executive, was gunned down as he walked to a midtown Manhattan hotel for his company’s annual investor conference.