The Manhattan district attorney’s office said on Tuesday that Luigi Mangionew been indicted on first-degree murder and other counts related to the ambush death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson this month.
The case against Mangione, 26, for Thompson’s murder outside a Manhattan hotel on December 4, is elevated by the indictment on first-murder degree in furtherance of terrorism.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement that Mangione is also charged with two counts of second-degree murder, one of which is a killing in the act of terrorism; two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon; four counts of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon; one count of fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon; and one count of second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument in the indictment from the New York state Supreme Court.
At a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, Bragg described Thompson’s murder as a blatant, intentional, and targeted shot.
“This was a targeted, well-planned, and terrifying murder that was meant to shock, attract attention, and intimidate,” he said. “It happened in one of the busiest areas of our city, endangering the safety of commuters, tourists, and businesses who were just starting their day.
Charges of terrorism were justified, Bragg argued, because the murder was “intended to evoke terror.”
At the media event on Tuesday, New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch stated that the indictment’s release brings the case one step closer to obtaining justice for Thompson and his family.
Tisch criticized some of the responses to the deadly shooting, saying that some people hailed Mangione as a hero rather than a murderer.
This violent deed made no logic. She claimed it was a cold-blooded, well-thought-out crime that endangered New Yorkers and took a life. “We don t celebrate murders, and we don t lionize the killing of anyone.”
Any attempt to justify the murder is “vile, reckless, and offensive” to the concepts of justice, Tisch continued.
The indictment, according to a UnitedHealth Group spokesperson, is “an important step forward for seeking justice in the murder of our colleague, Brian Thompson.”
“We will work with law enforcement authorities to help bring closure for Brian s family, friends, and colleagues,” stated the spokesperson.
After being identified after a protracted manhunt, Mangione was arrested on December 9 at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, and the allegations against him started to mount.
He was battling extradition and was arraigned and detained in Pennsylvania on felony accusations of forgery and illegal handgun carrying, along with misdemeanor counts involving the alleged use of false identification.
When an indictment against Mangione was handed out, a representative for New York Governor Kathy Hochul told NBC News she would immediately complete the necessary paperwork and issue an extradition request.
During a hearing on Thursday, Mangione intends to waive extradition, an insider told NBC News. During the press conference on Tuesday, Bragg stated that his office has received confirmation that Mangione will be “brought to New York forthwith.”
Thomas Dickey, Mangione’s lawyer in Pennsylvania, stated that he would enter a not guilty plea in both the New York and Pennsylvania cases. Mangione is being represented on the New York accusations by Karen Friedman Agnifilo.She stated that she would not comment Tuesday afternoon.
When Mangione was arrested, police found a gun, a fake ID, a notebook and a handwritten document, officials have said.
According to three senior law enforcement officials, the document attacked UnitedHealthcare in particular as well as the larger U.S. health care sector and big businesses. The officials reportedly stated that “frankly these parasites had it coming,” according to the notes.
Thompson’s killing and the allegations against Mangione havestirred discourseand anger over the health insurance industry and the health care system in the U.S.
Mangione had gone missing for months before to the shooting. In mid-November, his family reported him missing to San Francisco police, according to amissing persons flyerin which his mother said she last spoke to her son on July 1.
He spent time in Hawaii in 2022 but aggravated long-standing back issues while surfing,those who knew him there have said.
Neither Mangione nor his parents wereinsured by UnitedHealthcare, UnitedHealth Group has said. Police have said the company may have been targeted because of its size.
Mangione is being held at Huntingdon State Correctional Institution in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, prison officials have said.
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