Social media users speculate that suspected killer Luigi Mangione tried to send secret messages to the public when he was extradited to New York from Pennsylvania.
Mangione landed in Manhattan on Thursday to be arraigned in the murder of UnitedHeathcare CEO Brian Thompson and spent the day repeatedly pressing his tongue against his check.
While likely a nervous tick, the gesture has led to claims online that Mangione was trying to send a message to his supporters, while social media platforms continue to be flooded with outlandish praise for the alleged killer.
One X user wrote: ‘Luigi, pressing his tongue to his cheek means ‘contempt’! That means disrespectful! He sent a signal to ALL!’
Another person on the discussion website called datalounge agreed, claiming Mangione “stuck his tongue into his upper cheek.” Wisdom toothache or secret terrorist signal?’
According to Vocabulary.com, the phrase “tongue-in-cheek” describes an “exaggerated facial feature intended to convey contempt or irony.”
The 26-year-old was taken straight to the airport to board a private plane flying to New York. He was transferred to a helicopter and flown to Manhattan to face murder charges after he waived extradition.
Mangione was met on a helipad in downtown New York by dozens of armed NYPD officers, as well as Mayor Eric Adams and Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch.
Social media users speculate that Luigi Mangione pushed his tongue against his cheek to send a message of ‘contempt’
The NYPD made a huge show of force when Mangione landed on a Manhattan helipad
Mangione was seen making the tongue-in-cheek gesture repeatedly in both Pennsylvania and New York on Thursday
He has been charged with killing Thompson on December 4 in midtown Manhattan. About 700 people followed the flight route online.
Mangione was escorted to the plane at a Martinsburg airport by several NYPD officers shortly after leaving court in Pennsylvania.
Fans carrying banners flocked to see the alleged killer, whose good looks have made him a pin-up for some netizens, leaving many others outraged by Mangione’s alleged crimes.
The alleged killer waived a preliminary hearing on the forgery and weapons charges in Pennsylvania in exchange for the prosecutor giving him a 20-page investigative report from the Altoona Police Department. Mangione also agreed to be extradited to New York.
Earlier this week, he was indicted on charges of murder as an act of terrorism, under a New York state law that allows harsher penalties when a killing is aimed at frightening citizens or influencing government.
NYPD officers were present in court for the extradition hearing, ready to bring the suspect back to New York. CNN reports that Mangione will be flown into the city later on Thursday.
Mangione, who also appeared to have had a haircut since his last public appearance, left the Pennsylvania court shortly after 10 a.m. in a black SUV with NY license plates.
Dozens of protesters descended on the court to support Mangione in a bizarre continuation of a public fixation on the alleged killer. They held signs that read, “Health insurance practices are terrorizing people!” and ‘Death by denial is murder!’
Mangione was met on a helipad in downtown New York by dozens of armed NYPD officers, as well as Mayor Eric Adams and Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch.
Mangione arrives at a heliport with members of the NYPD on December 19 before his arraignment
Luigi Mangione was escorted from court by NYPD officers, who are expected to fly him to New York
The 26-year-old was taken straight to the airport to board a private plane that will take him to New York City to face murder charges for the killing of UnitedHeathcare CEO Brian Thompson.
At least two of them were dressed as Luigi from the video game Super Mario Bros.
Several TikTok users shared on the platform that they had driven as much as six hours to attend the hearing.
Some reportedly even flew from California to support the alleged killer.
Mangione could appear in state court for arraignment Thursday afternoon or Friday.
In a court filing last week, Mangione attorney Tom Dickey argued that prosecutors had not shown there was enough evidence to hold Mangione, that he was in New York when Thompson was killed or that he is a fugitive from justice.
Mangione, of Towson, Maryland, was arrested on December 9 when police were called to a McDonald’s restaurant on a strip mall in Altoona, Pennsylvania, after it was reported that he matched the description of Thompson’s killer.
Thompson was shot in the street as he walked to the hotel where his Minnesota-based company was holding an investor conference.
The shooting was captured on surveillance video, but the suspect evaded police before Mangione was captured about 275 miles (446 kilometers) west of New York.
Mangione’s good looks have made him a hero by some netizens, sparking anger among those outraged by his alleged crime
Protesters showed up outside the court Thursday in support of Mangione
Supporters of Luigi Mangione line up outside the Blair County Courthouse complex in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania
Authorities say Mangione had the gun that killed Thompson, a passport, a fake ID and about $10,000 in U.S. and foreign currency.
His attorney, Dickey, has questioned the evidence for the forgery charge and the legal basis for a firearms charge. He had previously indicated that Mangione would fight extradition to New York while in a Pennsylvania state prison.
Mangione, an Ivy League computer science graduate from a prominent family, carried a handwritten letter in which he called health insurers “parasitic” and complained about corporate greed, according to a law enforcement bulletin obtained by The Associated Press last week.
Mangione had an outburst last week as he entered the courtroom, yelling at reporters for being “completely out of touch and an insult to the intelligence of the American people and their experiences!”
Mangione is accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson at point-blank range on December 5
Surveillance camera footage showed the gunman, believed to be Mangione, shooting UnitedHealthCare CEO Brian Thompson outside a Hilton hotel in downtown Manhattan on December 4.
The outburst occurred after someone asked the Ivy League graduate if he “did it,” referring to the murder of Brian Thompson, according to the Wall Street Journal.
He also shouted, “This is completely unjust and an insult to the American people,” as he struggled with police officers while shackled and in prison garb.