News - Officer reveals what Mangione said while walking out of Pennsylvania arraignment

An officer who escorted Luigi Mangione to an arraignment hearing following his December 2024 arrest testified in court Tuesday about what the accused murderer said as he walked past spectators and reporters on his way out of the Pennsylvania courthouse. 'All of these people are here for a mass murderer? Wild,' Mangione allegedly said, according to Altoona Police Officer Stephen Fox. Tuesday marked a year since Mangione was arrested at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, ending a five-day manhunt for the suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City. Mangione, 27, was arraigned on the same day at the Blair County Courthouse. He faces New York state charges, including one count of second-degree murder, seven counts of various weapons charges, and one count of second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument. He was also charged with two federal counts of stalking, one count of murder through the use of a firearm, and one count of a firearms offense. Mangione has pleaded not guilty to nine state counts and four federal charges filed separately. The federal charges carry the possibility of the death penalty. Fox's testimony on Mangione on the day of his arraignment revealed new details in a multi-day hearing related to the New York state charges. The hearing, in Manhattan Criminal Court, is focused on Mangione's lawyers’ bid to exclude evidence from his state murder trial. The hearing started last week. On Tuesday, Mangione walked into the courtroom in a navy blue suit and a light pink-and-white checked dress shirt. Before the hearing began, Mangione chatted with one of his attorneys, then opened a folder and pulled a paper from it, which he read intently. Fox, who responded to the McDonald’s a year ago after a call about a suspicious person, testified Tuesday as the ninth witness for the prosecution. He said he was with Mangione at the Pennsylvania courthouse when he was arraigned. As he was escorting him out, Fox said Mangione remarked on the people who had shown up. He said he apologized to a shackled Mangione for walking too fast when he stumbled as the officers handed him over to state police. 'It’s OK, I’m going to have to get used to it,' Mangione said, according to Fox. Fox said before encountering Mangione at the McDonald’s, he had heard about the Dec. 4, 2024, shooting on Fox News. He called the incident a 'violent act of cowardice that targeted an unarmed human being.' Bodycam video of Mangione being detained in Pennsylvania was also played in court on Tuesday. Mangione took notes on a yellow legal pad and sifted through papers at the defense table as it played. On the stand, Fox said that he helped search the backpack Mangione had with him after he was arrested. He told the court that he said, 'It’s f---ing him, 100%' as his colleague found a magazine with bullets inside the backpack. On Monday in court, pictures of the items recovered from Mangione’s backpack last year included a loaded handgun, a silencer, a magazine with bullets wrapped in underwear, a notebook, a cellphone, a passport, a Maryland identification card, and various bank and credit cards. A to-do list was also found with notes scribbled on it, like 'buy black sneakers (white stripe too distinctive),' 'Change hat, shoes, pluck eyebrows,' 'keep momentum, FBI slower,' and 'check reports for current situation.'