The Daily Populous Wednesday December 3rd, 2025 morning edition
Authored by theguardian.com and submitted by ObeseObedience

Police involved with Luigi Mangione’s arrest were so skeptical that the tip on his whereabouts was true that they joked about a reward sandwich in text messages, Manhattan state court proceedings revealed on Tuesday.

“He said, ‘if you get the New York City shooter, I’ll buy you a hoagie from a local restaurant,’” testified Joseph Detwiler, an Altoona, Pennsylvania police officer, of texts exchanged with a supervisor. “I said, ‘Consider it done.’”

In less than an hour, Detwiler learned that this seemingly spurious tip was true.

Mangione was captured in Pennsylvania at a McDonald’s on 9 December 2024 in connection with the murder of Brian Thompson, the United HealthCare CEO. Thompson’s death on a New York City street on 4 December 2024 both spurred a sprawling manhunt for his killer and stoked public outrage over the practices of the US’s for-profit health insurance industry.

Following the dispatcher’s orders, Detwiler and another officer went to the McDonald’s. “I saw the male sitting at the table there, next to the bathrooms,” Detwiler said. The man had on a large coat, brown beanie and blue medical mask, just as the tipster had said. “I walked by. I wanted to see what he did when he saw us.”

Detwiler asked the man his name and explained that “someone called, they thought you were suspicious”. He asked for identification, which the man provided. This ID would prove to be fake.

Detwiler also asked the man to pull down his mask. “I knew it was him immediately,” Detwiler said.

Mangione was led into court just after 9.50am, wearing a dark jacket. His hand restraints were removed before he sat at the defense table. He faces Manhattan federal court charges in addition to his state case and has pleaded not guilty to all charges against him.

Detwiler’s testimony came on day two of a potentially weeklong proceeding about whether evidence was gathered illegally during Mangione’s encounter with police at this fast-food eatery. Mangione’s lawyers have repeatedly pushed for the exclusion of evidence obtained during his arrest, alleging that he was not immediately informed of his constitutional rights.

Detwiler and another officer were sent to a local McDonald’s after the restaurant’s manager called 911, saying customers thought they had spotted the shooter. He was the first police officer to question Mangione.

The audio recording chronicling Detwiler’s dispatch was played in court.

“There’s a male in the [McDonald’s] that looks like the NYC shooter,” police dispatch told Detwiler of the reported sighting.

Detwiler responded: “10-4. We’ll be on that.”

Prosecutor Joel Seidemann asked Detwiler about his tone.

“I was being semi-sarcastic when I said it,” Detwiler explained. “I did not think it was going to be the person that they thought it was.”

As Seidemann’s questioning progressed, Detwiler gave more details about Mangione’s arrest. Body-worn camera footage was displayed in court.

Detwiler “stayed calm” after recognizing Mangione and called his supervisor. “Yes, he’s here. It’s him,” Detwiler remembered saying.

On the call, Detwiler insisted that he wasn’t kidding. “He was surprised, because he was the one who sent me the text message when we got the call.”

“About the free hoagie?” Seidemann asked.

Detwiler tried to act as normally as possible, telling Mangione that police were there over complaints that he had been lingering too long. Body-camera footage showed Mangione eating a hash-brown patty and, shortly thereafter, another item.

“I asked him if it was a steak sandwich,” Detwiler said. Mangione responded with an mm-hmm. “I said it was my favorite.”

“What was the point out of that?” Seidemann said.

“Just trying to keep things calm and normal, like I said before.”

How much of a role Mangione’s mask played in attracting attention remains unclear.

Seidemann asked Detwiler about mask culture in Altoona.

“We don’t wear masks,” Detwiler said. “We have antibodies.”

And since “no one wears masks” there, Detwiler knew the man they would later identify as Mangione was the man who had prompted suspicion.

“He had a mask on,” Detwiler said. “So he had to be the person we were called there for.”

Karen Agnifilo, one of Mangione’s attorneys, examined Detwiler after the prosecution wrapped its inquiry. She pressed on details about his identification of Mangione to bolster the defense position that circumstances surrounding the interdiction were legally problematic.

Agnifilo asked about the dispatch call, which said that there was a “suspicious male that resembled the NYC shooter” at McDonald’s. The dispatch call was “low-priority”.

“It didn’t sound serious on the radio, no,” Detwiler said.

“You didn’t use lights and sirens?” Agnifilo said.

Agnifilo noted that Detwiler asked the man he would later identify as Mangione to lower his mask, and he did so right away. She suggested through questioning that the timing seemed off for such a swift identification.

“It’s at that moment, two seconds into seeing him, you know: he’s the New York City shooter?”

Detwiler again insisted that he knew. “No doubt in my mind.”

Agnifilo also sought to suggest that Mangione was held without being apprised of his rights. She asked Detwiler, whose pre-Altoona police résumé includes the air force and private security in Iraq, about he and his partner’s physical position at McDonald’s.

Mangione was in the corner booth, back to the wall, and Agnifilo pressed Detwiler to explain whether he and his partner were standing in a way to prevent him from leaving. Detwiler said he and his partner needed room.

“We’re not going to stand next to each other and hold each other’s hands.”

boxoffoxsocks on December 2nd, 2025 at 20:09 UTC »

> How much of a role Mangione’s mask played in attracting attention remains unclear.

> Indeed, Seidemann asked Detwiler about mask culture in Altoona.

> “We don’t wear masks,” Detwiler said. “We have antibodies.”

> And since “no one wears masks” there, Detwiler knew the man they would later identify as Mangione was the man who had prompted suspicion.

> “He had a mask on,” Detwiler said. “So he had to be the person we were called there for."

Oh for crying out loud. You can almost hear the smug smile in that statement. Put that on a post card from Altoona - come for the McDonalds, stay for the antibodies.

OpportunityDue90 on December 2nd, 2025 at 20:02 UTC »

They recognized him from the pictures? Bullshit. The FBI called in that tip and we’re probably following him using some illegal identification program or cell hacking aka Pegasus.

heresyforfunnprofit on December 2nd, 2025 at 19:59 UTC »

And yet they responded in under 5 minutes with a dozen cars.

Because the tip came from likely illegal parallel construction.