Sunday, December 22, 2024
On Tuesday, New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced that Luigi Mangione, 26, had been charged with first-degree murder in relation to the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Manhatten, New York, United States on December 4. Bragg contended that Mangione carried out the attack with the intent to "sow terror."
A post-9/11 law in New York State allows prosecutors to pursue terrorism charges if the defendant "intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population, influence the policies of a unit of government by intimidation or coercion and affect the conduct of a unit of government by murder, assassination or kidnapping."
Mangione's lawyer did not comment on that matter. However, he contended that he had yet to see evidence that would tie his defendant's weapon to Thompson's killing.
Mangione faced two additional counts of second-degree murder.
Mangione was held at State Correctional Institution Huntingdon,in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania under maximum security without bail. He faces the penalty of life in prison with no parole for the murder.
A court hearing was scheduled for December 19, that would decide whether Mangione would face extradition to New York for the murder charges. This is the same day as Mangione's preliminary hearing for gun charges in Pennsylvania.
Local police arrested Mangione at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania, United States on December 9, after an employee recognized and reported him.
Police arrived and questioned Mangione, and said that he became "visibly nervous" and started shaking when asked if he had been to New York recently, CBS News reported. The authorities charged Luigi Mangione with "carrying a gun without a license, forgery, falsely identifying himself to the authorities and possessing instruments of crime," ABC News reported.
Police mentioned that he was found in possession of a "ghost gun" and a silencer that was consistent with the one used to slay Thompson, ABC News reported. He was also found in possession of fake IDs that were consistent with the ones he used while staying at a hostel in Manhattan, CBS News reported. The suspect was found carrying a large sum of cash, some of which was foreign currency, BBC reported.
Authorities noted the suspect had a handwritten note about health insurance companies supposedly prioritising profits over customer/patient care.
CBS News reported that the New York Police Department (NYPD) clarified Mangione was never a UnitedHealthcare client and officials suggested he targeted Thompson because of the company's significant size and influence.
Mangione's actions were praised by some online, who expressed little in the way of sympathy for Thompson. New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch was quoted saying "any attempt to rationalize this is vile, reckless and offensive to our deeply held principles of justice."
Mangione was originally from Maryland. NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny recounted that prior to Mangione's arrest, his mother, who had reported her son missing on November 18, told the FBI that the murder "might be something that she could see him doing."
