Luigi Mangione seemingly attended Taylor Swift’s Eras tour less than two months before being charged with the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
On Tuesday, December 10, a TikTok user shared a screenshot of a photo of Mangione, 26, originally shared by an X user.
“There is no way that #luigimangione, UHC Adjuster was listening to Taylor play ‘Guilty As Sin’ at the same time as me!?” the caption read, referencing night 3 of the Miami stop of the tour on October 20. “I need to know if this is real or a hoax (live from long pond studios).”
The video was shared one day after Mangione was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania, in connection with the December 4 assassination of Thompson. Officials took him into custody after a McDonald’s manager tipped them off when he entered the establishment after exiting a Greyhound bus. Upon arrest, Mangione allegedly had a gun “consistent with the weapon used in the murder” in his possession, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said in a press conference on Monday, December 9.
That day, Mangione was charged with one count of murder, three counts of criminal possession of a weapon and one count of possession of a forged instrument, according to NBC News.
Mangione’s family released a statement following the Ivy League graduate’s arrest, telling NBC News, “Unfortunately, we cannot comment on news reports regarding Mangione. We only know what we have read in the media. Our family is shocked and devastated by Mangione’s arrest. We offer our prayers to the family of Brian Thompson and we ask people to pray for all involved.”
On Tuesday, Mangione made a scene while police escorted him out of his transport vehicle and into the extradition hearing in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania. A clip of the moment went viral on social media, where Mangione was seen wearing an orange jumpsuit.
“It’s completely out of touch. It’s an insult to the intelligence of the American people,” Mangione yelled, also shouting about “injustice in the system.”
Mangione’s lawyer Thomas Dickey spoke out in defense of his client on Wednesday, after the suspected CEO shooter was denied bail. Dickey claimed that there was “zero evidence” pointing to Mangione as the suspect and doubled down on his statement on Good Morning America.
“We had a brief hearing yesterday, but there is one document – an arrest warrant from the state of New York – which merely referenced a statute,” Dickey told host George Stephanopoulos. “We’ve seen no evidence. That’s one of the many reasons why we’re challenging the extradition at this point so we can see some evidence and get a little more detailed information about the charges against Luigi.”
Dickey also clarified that he has “not been made aware of any evidence that links the gun that was found on his person to the crime.”
“Yesterday was fast, today’s another day. We’re looking forward to beginning our inquiry as to what evidence may or may not be out there. If you brought a gun in and said, ‘Well, it looks like that.’ I don’t even know if it would be admissible,” Dickey later continued. “And if so, I would argue that it wouldn’t be given much weight. That’s why they do ballistic tests, ballistics, examination, a test of all that to try to match that. Trust me, they’re going to try to match that firearm to the incident by more than just, ‘Well, it looks like that.’”
