Newly Released Bodycam Video Shows Luigi Mangione Arrest at McDonald’s

Newly unsealed police body camera video released by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office provides a firsthand look at the Dec. 9, 2024, arrest of Luigi Mangione in Altoona, Pennsylvania, and the recovery of evidence tied to the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. The trove of recordings, unsealed following a petition by CNN, captures officers approaching Mangione inside a central Pennsylvania McDonald’s, questioning him about a fake New Jersey driver’s license, and eventually recovering a firearm, a silencer, ammunition magazines, and handwritten notes describing a manifesto.

Footage Shows Officers Arresting Mangione at McDonald's

The newly public footage shows officers descending on the restaurant roughly 300 miles from Manhattan, where they find Mangione seated at a table wearing a ski hat, winter coat, and surgical face mask. In one video clip, officers ask Mangione to lower his face mask. That’s 100% him, one officer says eagerly after stepping outside to speak out of earshot, while another responds, I told you, man.

Officers order Mangione to put his hands on his head and question him about his nervousness and recent travel to New York. They confront him over a phony New Jersey driver’s license bearing the name Mark Rosario. You’re under official police investigation right now, an officer warns him. You give a false name to us again, you’re gonna be arrested for false ID. Mangione eventually admits his true identity, telling officers, I clearly shouldn’t have, when asked why he lied, and spelling his real name aloud.

Police Find Murder Weapon and Manifesto in Backpack

Subsequent footage shows officers patting Mangione down, reading him his rights, placing him in handcuffs, and transporting him to the police station for a strip-search. While an officer searches Mangione more thoroughly at the station, another officer goes through his backpack and discovers the 9 mm handgun authorities later confirmed was used in the killing, along with a silencer and an ammunition magazine. Officers also recover a journal and handwritten notes that prosecutors describe as a manifesto detailing the intent to target a health insurance executive.

The video evidence was central to a three-week evidentiary hearing held last December, during which eight Altoona police officers traveled to New York to testify. Following those hearings, a judge excluded the magazine recovered directly from Mangione’s backpack inside the restaurant. However, the judge permitted prosecutors to utilize evidence gathered during the subsequent stationhouse search, including the firearm, a second magazine, and the handwritten notes.

Defense Seeks to Dismiss Murder Charges as Double Jeopardy

Mangione pleaded guilty in August to federal stalking charges and faces life in prison when sentenced in December. While his state murder trial in New York was scheduled to begin last month, defense attorneys have filed a motion seeking to dismiss the charges entirely. Their motion argues that prosecuting Mangione in New York state court constitutes double jeopardy and violates his constitutional rights.

A New York judge has scheduled a December hearing to determine whether the state murder trial will move forward following the defense’s dismissal motion.