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At almost exactly 1 p.m. on Friday, Luigi Mangione<\/strong> walked into a Manhattan federal courtroom through the back door. In his beige prison garb, flanked by US marshals, he looked expressionless, but as he sat and chatted with his attorney Marc Agnifilo,<\/strong> he broke into a couple of smiles.<\/p>\n For the duration of the 35-minute hearing, following Mangione\u2019s federal indictment on charges of stalking and murdering health care CEO Brian Thompson<\/a>, the defendant was mostly an observer. At 1:06 p.m., he had a chance to say seven words: \u201cI have,\u201d in response to whether he had seen the indictment; \u201cyes,\u201d to confirm he\u2019d had enough time to review it; \u201cI waive,\u201d to forgo his right to have the indictment read in court. And then Mangione gave his plea of \u201cnot guilty.\u201d<\/p>\n If the proceeding was mild, the moral and political weight surrounding it has been staggering. Thompson\u2019s killing took place after Donald Trump<\/strong> was reelected but about a month and a half before he took office again. The case, an instant global news phenomenon, turned Mangione into a cult hero in some corners\u2014a telegenic face with a widely resonant message. For the Trump administration, it has been an opportunity to flex the punitive muscle that has quickly become the defining hallmark of the president\u2019s second term. On Thursday, the day before Mangione was arraigned, federal prosecutors filed their formal notice of intent to seek the death penalty.<\/p>\n