Luigi Mangione, the man suspected of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, is now in New York. Before his extradition, several protesters who traveled from out of state gathered in front of the Blair County Courthouse.
Ashlyn Adami and her husband came from South Bend, Indiana. They wore green hats based on the character Luigi from the Mario video game series. They said the hats were meant to draw attention and promote universal health care.
Adami said she has permanent back damage and blames her health insurance.
“There is a level of desperation that cannot be understood by anybody who hasn't felt it. Like, having chronic back pain for years breaks your mind," Adami said.
Adami said she disagrees with the United Healthcare CEO’s killing, but she hopes it brings more awareness to the pain she and others are going through.
“I don't want more murder. I don't want violence. I never have and I never will. All I want is for people to be taken care of and our current system doesn’t," Adami said.
Filip Gonzalez traveled from Rochester, New York. He also said he doesn’t believe in violence, but is glad there’s now a national conversation about health care insurance. He carried a sign asking for donations for a crowdsourcing fund.
“We are supporting the families that have been affected by this and people that have lost family members because the health care system failed them," Gonzalez said.
Meanwhile, Blair County District Attorney Pete Weeks said he is looking forward to getting back to work on local cases that were moved to the back burner.
“Over the past two weeks, police officers have worked extra shifts," Weeks said. "Police departments have volunteered help. Everyone's worked together. It certainly has taken resources, but it's been accomplished very smoothly because of the cooperation of everybody.”
Weeks said Mangione will have his preliminary hearing for his Pennsylvania charges sometime in February, but he will not be transported back to SCI Huntingdon.
