NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. Lawyer Normal Pam Bondi mentioned Tuesday she has directed federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty against Luigi Mangione, the person accused of gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outdoors a New York Metropolis resort on Dec. 4.
Mangione, 26, faces separate federal and state homicide fees for the killing, which rattled the enterprise group whereas additionally galvanizing medical insurance critics. The federal fees embrace homicide by means of use of a firearm, which carries the potential of the death penalty. The state fees carry a most punishment of life in jail.
Prosecutors have mentioned the 2 circumstances will proceed on parallel tracks, with the state fees anticipated to go to trial first. It wasn’t instantly clear if Bondi’s death penalty announcement will change the order of how the circumstances are tried.
“Luigi Mangione’s homicide of Brian Thompson — an harmless man and father of two younger kids — was a premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America,” Bondi mentioned in a press release. “After cautious consideration, I’ve directed federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty on this case as we supply out President Trump’s agenda to cease violent crime and Make America Secure Once more.”
A message searching for remark was left for a spokesperson for Mangione’s attorneys.
Mangione has pleaded not responsible to a state indictment and has not entered a plea to the federal fees.
President Donald Trump, who oversaw an unprecedented run of executions on the finish of his first time period, signed an govt order on his first day again in workplace on Jan. 20 that compels the Justice Division to seek the death penalty in federal circumstances the place relevant.
His predecessor, Joe Biden, had issued a moratorium on federal executions.
Thompson, 50, was ambushed and shot on a sidewalk as he walked to an investor convention at a resort in midtown Manhattan.
Mangione was arrested Dec. 9 whereas consuming breakfast at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
Police mentioned he was carrying a gun that matched the one used within the taking pictures and a pretend ID. He additionally was carrying a pocket book expressing hostility towards the medical insurance business and particularly rich executives, authorities mentioned.
UnitedHealthcare is the biggest well being insurer within the U.S., although the corporate mentioned Mangione was by no means a shopper.
Among the many entries within the pocket book, prosecutors mentioned, was one from August 2024 that mentioned “the goal is insurance coverage” as a result of “it checks each field” and one from October that describes an intent to “wack” an insurance coverage firm CEO.
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