A New York grand jury has indicted the suspected assassin of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on charges of murder as an “act of terrorism” for the cold-blooded killing, Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg (D) announced Tuesday.
The grand jury charged 26-year-old Luigi Mangione with first-degree murder in furtherance of terrorism and two counts of second-degree murder, including one count for killing in the act of terrorism. Mangione is also facing an assortment of weapon possession charges and one count of carrying a forged document for the point-blank assassination of Thompson outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel earlier this month.
“We allege that Luigi Mangione carried out the brazen, targeted and fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Midtown Manhattan,” Bragg said.
He said the terrorism charges are necessary because the murder was “intended to evoke terror” and to intimidate city residents.
“This was a senseless act of violence. It was a cold and calculated crime that stole a life and put New Yorkers at risk,” said New York City police commissioner Jessica Tisch.
“We don’t celebrate murders, and we don’t lionize the killing of anyone,” she added.
Mangione has developed a progressive fan base online because of the brutal killing and the Left’s disdain for the insurance industry.
A shock poll taken by Emerson College found that 41 percent of Americans under 30 consider the murder to be somewhat or completely acceptable. In total, 68 percent of Americans believe the killing is unacceptable. The survey had a three percent margin of error and sampled 1,000 registered voters.
Law enforcement tracked down Mangione at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania after a days-long manhunt that gained nationwide attention because of Mangione’s methodical assassination and subsequent escape.
Mangione faces separate charges in Pennsylvania for possessing a firearm and fake IDs, one of which he presented to law enforcement. He is being held without bail in Pennsylvania state prison while awaiting extradition to New York for the murder charges. He is expected to plead not guilty to all the charges.
Mangione possessed a ghost gun, silencer, and anti-insurance company manifesto at the time of his arrest. The manifesto is a paragraph-long confession paired with a brief screed against the insurance industry that claims his act was a long time coming. Mangione’s online activity on X and other platforms featured plenty of self-help content and touched on ideologies across the political spectrum.
Mangione was born in Maryland to a wealthy, well-connected family and worked in the tech industry after obtaining two engineering degrees from the prestigious University of Pennsylvania. He struggled with chronic spinal issues and lost touch with friends and family after getting back surgery six months ago to address his physical issues.