Luigi Mangione did not raise his voice. He read his statement calmly and without rushing.
28 years old, he was sitting before federal judge Margaret Garnett in New York on August 14, 2026, when he admitted something the whole world already suspected: he traveled from another city to Manhattan with the intention of killing Brian Thompson, the 50-year-old CEO of UnitedHealthcare.
He said he researched the company’s investor conference online to locate him, shot him in the back in front of the Hilton Midtown hotel on the morning of December 4, 2024, and then said the phrase that was recorded by every media outlet: “I knew what I was doing was illegal”. Many people on social media see him as a figure of protest against the United States healthcare system.
Thompson’s wife and mother were in the front row. Mangione now faces life imprisonment on the federal side, with sentencing set for December 18, while the state homicide case continues on its own path. What do you think about this case?
