The alleged killer of a US health insurance boss has tussled with police officers as they were escorting him to court.
Luigi Mangione, in handcuffs, shouted to reporters outside the Pennsylvania courthouse: “It’s completely out of touch and an insult to the intelligence of the American people and their lived experience.”
He has been charged with the murder of UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson, who was shot dead in Manhattan last week.
Dressed in an orange prison uniform, Mangione was seen struggling with officers, who pushed him against a wall.
He has contested his extradition to New York during an appearance at Blair County Courthouse and has been denied bail.
Mangione mostly stared straight ahead at the hearing, occasionally consulting papers, rocking in his chair or looking back at the gallery.
Mangione was arrested on Monday after a McDonald’s worker in Pennsylvania alerted authorities to a customer, who was found with a gun, mask and writings, which police say links him to the ambush.
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Sky News partner network NBC News has spoken to a customer who spotted Mangione in the restaurant in Altoona.
The man, who only gave his name as Larry, said his friend told him “that looks like the shooter from New York”, adding that a backpack looked similar to one the suspect was carrying.
Larry added: “I thought it was one of the employees, because they go back here on break, and they put their hoods up, and he was in the corner with his hood up.”
Mangione had been charged earlier in Altoona with weapons, forgery and other charges, and will now be extradited to New York City.
Mr Thompson, 50, was killed last Wednesday as he walked alone to a hotel, where UnitedHealthcare’s parent company, UnitedHealth Group, was holding its annual investor conference.
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