US man accused of posing as FBI agent to free health CEO murder suspect Luigi Mangione
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Luigi Mangione - charged in the murder of UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson - confers with one of his attorneys at a pretrial hearing in Manhattan on Dec 11.
PHOTO: JEFFERSON SIEGEL/NYTIMES
- Mark Anderson, 36, was charged after posing as an FBI agent at a US jail to free Luigi Mangione, accused of murdering Brian Thompson.
- Anderson presented a driver's licence instead of FBI credentials and had weapons (barbeque fork and pizza cutter) in his backpack.
- Mangione is charged at the federal and state level for Thompson's murder, which sparked public anger about the US healthcare system.
AI generated
NEW YORK - A man was charged on Jan 29 after allegedly posing as an FBI agent at a US jail to try to free Luigi Mangione, the suspect in the high-profile murder of a health insurance executive.
Mark Anderson, 36, was arrested late on Jan 28 after New York prison staff asked to see credentials and he could only produce his driver’s licence before claiming to have weapons on him, according to court filings.
Officials found a large barbeque fork and a round steel blade – which resembled a pizza cutter – inside Anderson’s backpack.
The criminal complaint said Anderson told staff at the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn that he had paperwork “signed by a judge” authorising the release of a specific inmate, unnamed in the filing.
A judicial source confirmed the inmate was Mangione, the 27-year-old accused of gunning down UnitedHealthcare chief executive officer Brian Thompson
Mr Thompson’s killing, which was captured on surveillance video, shocked Americans and exposed public anger with the country’s profit-driven private healthcare system.
Mangione is charged at the federal and state level. He has pleaded not guilty
His federal trial is set to begin with jury selection on Sept 8.
A date has yet to be set in the state case. AFP
