On The Morning Of December 9, 2024, When Luigi Mangione Was Arrested At The McDonald’s In Altoona,

On the morning of December 9, 2024, when Luigi Mangione was arrested at the McDonald’s in Altoona, PA, the Altoona Police Department violated his constitutional rights in the following ways:

2 armed officers initially approached Luigi, blocked his only exit, and began questioning him without informing him of his rights.

One officer asked for ID and began questioning him about his presence in New York. Without allowing a full response from Luigi, the officer physically restrained Luigi by grabbing his wrist and frisked him.

Luigi was never informed he was under arrest, yet he was physically blocked from leaving and eventually surrounded by a total of 10 police officers.

Although one officer claimed Luigi was “not in custody,” he was clearly treated as a suspect, with officers having already decided his status.

Luigi's Miranda rights were not read until nearly 20 minutes after the initial encounter with the first two officers.

Officers searched his backpack without a warrant or his consent.

The justification that they were “checking for bombs” was only provided after the bag had already been searched, suggesting a post hoc rationale to cover a warrantless search.

Without evacuating the restaurant or notifying the bomb squad, one officer packed up the backpack and left the scene. For approximately 11 minutes, her body-worn camera footage was inactive while she drove to the precinct with the bag.

His backpack was searched again at the precinct, still without a warrant.

A warrant to search the backpack was not requested until over 7 hours after the initial encounter—long after the property had already been seized and examined.