CNN Correspondent ‘Really Struck’ by Luigi Mangione’s Attorney Excusing His Murder After Guilty Plea

CNN’s Shimon Prokupecz was “really struck” by Luigi Mangione’s lawyer making “excuses” for him at a New York City courthouse after Mangione pleaded guilty to federal stalking charges.

Prokupecz reported for CNN outside of the emergency hearing for Mangione, 28, on Friday, where he pleaded guilty to the stalking charges related to the shooting and killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in December 2024. Mangione has now admitted to the shooting, which was caught on a security camera.

Mangione’s lawyer, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, who left her role as an on-air legal analyst for CNN to join his defense team, spoke about Mangione’s debilitating back pain leading up to the murder and accused the healthcare industry of having “failed” him and destroying his “life.”

“As Luigi explained in court today, he endured years of severe, debilitating pain following a broken back while struggling to navigate our health care and health insurance systems. Like the thousands of people who have reached out since this tragedy to share their own experiences, he believed that the system had failed him and destroyed his life,” she said.

Prokupecz expressed shock over her statement, especially with Thompson’s family being present.

Mangione is still facing a state trial, expected to begin in September, something Prokupecz noted his lawyers want to see dismissed in light of his guilty plea in the federal case.

He said:

The fact that she took that moment, and this tells you where we’re going here, and this is probably not the first time that she has said this, but I was struck that she picked this moment to say what she said. And they have filed a motion in state court to get the double jeopardy to hopefully get that state case dismissed, but she is essentially making excuses already for what was going on with Luigi Mangione at the time of this. “He had severe, debilitating pain. It was a health care system, a system that failed him.” She then goes on to say that he’s been treated “unfairly”…

It’s kind of like at a moment like this, where this family — I understand she has to defend her client, but we’re at a moment here where you have the NYPD saying a killer is not a hero, you know, the FBI talking about that, because of what this case and what this act represented, the following that Luigi Mangione got after this, people thinking that he’s some kind of a hero. I was really struck by Karen Agnifilo taking this moment to go into this whole thing about somehow giving excuse to what Luigi Mangione did here in this moment… and with that family, the Thompson family sitting there, I cannot imagine for them what this has been like and what this day means for them.

Watch above via CNN.

Jason Cohen contributed to this report. 

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