U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi directed federal prosecutors on Tuesday to pursue the death penalty in the case against Luigi Mangione, who is accused of assassinating UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
The Department of Justice alleged that Mangione murdered Thompson in “an act of political violence.” The 26-year-old suspect was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania, in December — five days after Thompson was gunned down from behind outside of the Hilton Hotel in Midtown Manhattan.
“Luigi Mangione’s murder of Brian Thompson — an innocent man and father of two young children — was a premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America,” Bondi said. “After careful consideration, I have directed federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty in this case as we carry out President Trump’s agenda to stop violent crime and Make America Safe Again.”
Mangione faces both state and federal murder and terrorism charges. He has pleaded not guilty to the state charges but has not yet entered a plea for the federal charges, which make him eligible for the death penalty. According to prosecutors, state and federal cases are expected to proceed on parallel tracks. Since New York doesn’t have the death penalty, the heaviest sentence Mangione could face in the state is life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The DOJ argues that the alleged assassination of Thompson “involved substantial planning and premeditation,” adding that “because the murder took place in public with bystanders nearby, [it] may have posed grave risk of death to additional persons.”
Video footage of the killing showed the masked assassin approach Thompson from behind and shoot him in the back before firing at him again after the healthcare CEO fell to the ground. One bystander, who appeared to be a female, was also seen on camera when the assassination unfolded, but no one else was wounded.
The suspect allegedly fled the scene on a bicycle that he rode into Central Park and then made his way to a bus station, where he took a Greyhound out of the city. Mangione was arrested after patrons in an Altoona McDonald’s recognized him from flyers posted by the NYPD. The flyers showed photos of the alleged assassin smiling in the lobby of a Manhattan hostel, where he stayed just days before Thomspon was killed.
Upon his arrest, law enforcement officers allegedly found Mangione’s backpack, where inside he was storing a 9mm homemade handgun, a manifesto, and the same fake New Jersey ID that was used by the person of interest at a Manhattan hostel before Thompson was gunned down on the street. Authorities also allegedly found a notebook on Mangione where written inside were mentions of taking out “the CEO at the annual parasitic bean-counter convention.”
Mangione has gained a following among some on the Left who have called for the suspected assassin to be freed. Mangione has received letters, photos, and hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations for his legal defense.
