Manzioni pleads not guilty to murder of CEO of U.S. health insurance company..."New York Mayor Polluted Trial"

Luigi Manzioni, accused of shooting and killing Brian Thompson, chief executive of U.S. health insurer United Healthcare, has pleaded not guilty.

According to CNN and the Associated Press, Manzioni's lawyer said at a trial in Manhattan District Court in New York on the 23rd local time that "all of my clients are in a position to not admit to the crime."

"We are very concerned that the right to a fair trial in this case is being violated," Manzioni's lawyer said, adding that New York Mayor Eric Adams and other state officials are completely politicizing the case and polluting the jury.

"I wanted to look him in the eye and say he committed terrorist acts in this city that New Yorkers love," New York Mayor Adams told local reporters after coming to the scene last week during the Manzioni convoy and traveling with police officers.

Manzioni's lawyer denounced it as a "directed scene," the New York Times reported.

Mayor Adams is also the first incumbent New York mayor to be tried on bribery charges.

According to prosecutors, Manzioni is accused of killing CEO Thompson with a silencer gun on the sidewalk next to the Hilton Hotel in midtown Manhattan early on the 4th.

The case will be prosecuted separately by U.S. federal prosecutors and New York State prosecutors and will be heard at the same time.

The NYT explained that if you are guilty, you could face the maximum death penalty, and if you are guilty, you could face up to life in prison without parole.