BREAKING: New York judge blocks some items found in Luigi Mangione’s backpack from evidence in Brian Thompson murder case, allows gun, notebook

"The evidence found during the search of the backpack at the McDonald’s must be suppressed, including the magazine, cellphone, passport, wallet and computer chip," said the judge. A manifesto that was found inside the backpack will be admitted as evidence as was a handgun. Prosecutors will be permitted to admit these items as evidence.

Carro's reasoning was that the search conducted by the Altoona police when they apprehended Mangione at a McDonalds was prior to obtaining a warrant. Once they conducted a second, inventory search, they found the gun and notebook in a compartment they had not previously searched.

"The search of the backpack in the McDonald’s was an improper warrantless search," Carro said. Because of that, he said "the items found in the backpack at the McDonald’s will be suppressed."

"The backpack was within the exclusive control of the police," Carro said of the item while it was being checked for weapons by police at McDonalds. He "reject[ed] arguments that officers needed to search the bag immediately out of concern for explosives or weapons," reports WJAC.

Carro states that when the second search was conducted, "the People met their burden of establishing that this was a valid inventory search."

Defense attorneys said previously: "At the hearing, Altoona law enforcement officers repeatedly attempted to justify their warrantless search of Mr. Mangione’s backpack. Instead, all these officers demonstrated was an utter disregard for a defendant’s constitutional rights and a shocking ignorance of basic search and seizure caselaw."

Mangione is on trial for the murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a Manhattan street. The motive for the killing is believed to be ideological in nature due to Mangione's displeasure with the American health insurance industry. Mangione has skirted the death penalty. Since the killing, Mangione has developed a fan base of people who seem to believe the killing was justified. Podcaster Hasan Piker claimed that Thompson was guilty of "social murder," spouting communist rhetoric about exploitation of workers.

"Brian Thompson was gunned down in cold blood as he walked down a street in midtown Manhattan," said Acting U.S. Attorney Edward Y. Kim for the Southern District of New York at the time. "Thompson was allegedly killed just because he held the position of chief executive officer of a health insurance company. As alleged, Luigi Mangione traveled to New York to stalk and shoot Thompson in broad daylight in front of a Manhattan hotel, all in a grossly misguided attempt to broadcast Mangione’s views across the country. But this wasn’t a debate, it was murder, and Mangione now faces federal charges. This office and its law enforcement partners remain steadfast in our commitment to fight violence in whatever form it takes."

Justice Gregory Carro ruling suppressing backpack as evidence in Luigi Mangione murder trial by The Post Millennial