Luigi Mangione 26 year old defendant The man who shot and killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York earlier this month has been charged with murder as an “act of terrorism.”

New York prosecutors had charged Mangione with murder in the Dec. 4 slaying, and a grand jury on Tuesday indicted Mangione with additional murder charges.

“This was a horrific, carefully planned and targeted murder designed to shock, concern and intimidate,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said at a news conference. “The incident occurred in one of the busiest areas of our city, threatening the safety of local residents and tourists, commuters and traders just starting their day.”

Mangione’s New York defense attorney, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, had no immediate comment on the new charges.

Under New York law, terrorism charges can be filed when the alleged crime is “intended to intimidate or coerce civilians, to influence the policy of a governmental agency by intimidation or coercion, and to influence the conduct of a governmental agency by murder.” Assassination or kidnapping.”

Thompson, 50, was shot while heading to a Manhattan hotel where UnitedHealthcare, one of the nation’s largest health insurers, was holding an investor conference.

Arrested for reporting

After a lengthy manhunt, Mangione was arrested in Pennsylvania on December 9 based on a tip from a McDonald’s employee.

Authorities said a 3D-printed gun, a silencer and several fake IDs, including one the attacker is believed to have used when he checked into a New York hotel before the shooting. when mangione recovers was arrested.

Before entering the courtroom in shackles last week, Mangione sent an incomprehensible message to reporters in which he could be heard referring to “an insult to the intelligence of the American people.”

During the brief hearing, his defense attorney Thomas Dickey told the court that Mangione would challenge extradition to New York and requested a hearing on the issue. He remains in custody in Pennsylvania without bail.

In court, Mangione, wearing an orange prison jumpsuit, sometimes stared forward, sometimes looking at documents, sometimes looking back at the gallery. When he tried to speak, his attorney briefly shushed him.

this shameless nature The truth and apparent motive of the killings gave rise to a national conspiracy. While they condemned the violence, many experts, doctors and American citizens said it was emblematic of the country’s undercurrent of anger at the health care industry, whose high costs leave many patients vulnerable to the wishes of insurance companies.

Bullet casings found at the scene of the killings were marked with the words “deny,” “defend” and “abandon,” appearing to reference phrases used by critics to describe how health insurance companies avoid paying out claims. The gunman fled to Central Park on an e-bike before boarding a bus out of the city.

“parasitic”

In the days after the attack, many people taken to social media Share insurance company accounts that deny claims.

The law enforcement memo was based on Mangione’s writings, some of which were recovered when he was arrested. Mangione was likely motivated by what he described as “parasitic” health insurance companies and an overall disdain for corporate greed, the memo said.

According to the memo, Mangione wrote that the United States has the most expensive health care system in the world, and profits of major corporations continue to grow while “our life expectancy” does not.

Thompson grew up on a farm in small-town Iowa and trained as an accountant. He is a married father of two high school students who worked at the UnitedHealth Group giant for 20 years and became CEO of its insurance division in 2021.

Mangione comes from an influential family in Baltimore, Maryland, and was the valedictorian of an elite Baltimore prep school. In 2020, he received his undergraduate and graduate degrees in Computer Science from the prestigious Ivy League University of Pennsylvania.

Mangione was known as an affable and intelligent man, but some friends told U.S. media that his demeanor had changed after recent spinal surgery.

“Our family is shocked and saddened by Luigi’s arrest,” Mangione’s cousin, Delaware congressman Nino Mangione, said in a statement posted on social media late Monday.

“Our prayers go out to Brian Thompson’s family and ask for prayers for everyone involved.”