Luigi Mangione, the man suspected of assassinating UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson earlier this month, was charged with first- and second-degree murder by a grand jury in New York, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced on Tuesday.
Bragg said at a press conference that Mangione stands charged with one count of “murder in the first degree as a killing in furtherance of terrorism” and “two counts of murder in the second degree,” one of which accuses Mangione of killing Thompson in an act of terrorism. Mangione was also hit with multiple weapons charges and a charge of criminal possession of a forged instrument. The first-degree murder charge has a maximum penalty of life in prison without parole.
Mangione — who was arrested at an Altoona, Pennsylvania, McDonald’s on December 9 — has been fighting his extradition to New York. The suspected assassin was nabbed by police after the NYPD circulated a photo of him smiling at a Manhattan hostel before Thompson was gunned down on the street on December 4. Surveillance video showed a masked man shooting Thompson from behind while the CEO was on his way the the Hilton hotel in Midtown Manhattan for his company’s Investor’s Conference.
“This was a frightening, well-planned, targeted murder that was intended to cause shock and attention and intimidation,” Bragg said. “It occurred at one of the most bustling parts of our city, threatening the safety of local residents and tourists alike.”
According to the district attorney, Mangione arrived in New York City on a bus on November 24 with the goal “to murder Brian Thompson.” Mangione checked into the Manhattan hostel using a fake New Jersey ID under the name Mark Rosario. Mangione is accused of standing outside the Hilton hotel in wait for Thompson. After the shooting, Mangione allegedly fled on a bike and got on a bus leaving the city.
When he was arrested in Pennsylvania — around 275 miles from NYC — police said they found a 9mm handgun, a suppressor, two ammunition magazines, and the same fake New Jersey ID on him. Authorities said the gun found on Mangione was homemade and likely built using a 3D printer.
Mangione’s mother filed a missing persons report with San Francisco police just weeks before Thompson was killed in New York City, the San Francisco Standard reported. Mangione worked in San Francisco for a short time before moving to Honolulu, Hawaii.
According to NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny, police were already closing in on Mangione before he was arrested in Pennsylvania. Kenny said that when Mangione’s mother was questioned by authorities on December 7, shortly before her son’s arrest, she “didn’t indicate that it was her son in the photograph,” but told detectives that “it might be something that she could see [Mangione] doing.”
Mangione’s extradition could take weeks to complete if he continues to fight it. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul will have to submit a “governor’s warrant” to Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, requesting the extradition.
At the press conference, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch blasted those who have made a hero out of Mangione and have celebrated the killing of the UnitedHealthcare CEO.
“Let me say this plainly, there is no heroism in what Mangione did. This was a senseless act of violence. It was a cold and calculated crime that stole a life and put New Yorkers at risk,” Tisch said. “We don’t celebrate murders and we don’t lionize the killing of anyone. And any attempt to rationalize this is vile, wreckless, and offensive to our deeply held principles of justice.”
Both Tisch and Bragg also vowed to crack down on so-called ghost guns, a term often used by the Left to describe firearms that are untraceable by state and federal authorities.
A notebook was also allegedly found on Mangione that includes a passage where the writer mentions taking out “the CEO at the annual parasitic bean-counter convention.”
“It’s targeted, precise, and doesn’t risk innocents,” Mangione allegedly wrote in the notebook.
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