Luigi Mangione, the alleged Midtown assassin accused of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last December, was arraigned in Manhattan on federal charges Friday afternoon.
Federal prosecutors submitted a formal notice on Thursday that they intend to seek the death penalty against Mangione should he be convicted of Thompson’s shocking murder on Dec. 4, 2024, which occurred as Thompson walked to an investors’ meeting near West 52nd St.
The indictment, handed down by a federal grand jury on April 17, charges Mangione with murder with a firearm, two counts of stalking, including interstate travel and the use of electronic communications, and discharging a gun equipped with a silencer. In his April 25 court appearance, Mangione pleaded not guilty on all counts and is due to return to court on Dec. 5.
Prosecutors allege Mangione, wearing a mask, approached Thompson from behind and shot him in the back. Thompson later died at a nearby hospital. Mangione was arrested five days later in Altoona, Pennsylvania, in connection with the murder.
Mangione was arraigned on state and federal charges later that month. He previously pleaded not guilty to state charges and is expected to enter the same plea in federal court on April 25.
Authorities say Mangione traveled to New York in late November 2024 with plans to stalk and kill Thompson using a homemade, silenced firearm. In a notice filed Thursday, prosecutors claim the murder was premeditated and meant “to amplify an ideological message” and incite opposition to the health insurance industry.
Prosecutors cited statutory and non-statutory aggravating factors, including the risk to others, the impact on Thompson’s family and colleagues, and future dangerousness “because he expressed intent to target an entire industry, and rally political and social opposition to that industry, by engaging in an act of lethal violence.”
“And he took steps to evade law enforcement, flee New York City immediately after the murder, and cross state lines while armed with a privately manufactured firearm and silencer,” the notice reads.
Attorney General Pam Bondi authorized the pursuit of capital punishment on April 1. Mangione’s defense said they intend to fight both the state and federal charges.
“By seeking to murder Luigi Mangione, the Justice Department has moved from the dysfunctional to the barbaric,” Friedman Agnifilo said in an April 1 statement in response to Bondi’s directive. “Their decision to execute Luigi is political and goes against the recommendation of the local federal prosecutors, the law, and historical precedent.”
Updated at 1:49 p.m. on April 25.
