NEW YORK (AP) — A judge on Tuesday dismissed New York State’s terrorism charges against Luigi Mangione of New York, involving the killing of UnitedHealthCare CEO Brian Thompson, but he remained on second-degree murder charges against Ivy League graduates.
Mangione’s lawyer argues that the New York case and parallel federal death penalty prosecution pose a double danger. But Judge Gregory Carro rejected the argument, saying it was too early to make such a decision.
This is the first time that Mangione has appeared in the state case since February. The 27-year-old Ivy League graduate attracted worship as an alternative to frustration with the health insurance industry. Dozens of his supporters appeared at his last hearing, many wearing Luigi The green of video game characters is a symbol of unity. His April arraignment in federal cases caused a similar pour.
The judge said in his written ruling that while there is no doubt that killing is not an ordinary street crime, New York law is not because of terrorism but simply because it is ideologically motivated.
“While the defendant is clearly expressing a hostility towards the UHC, and the healthcare industry generally does not follow his goal of ‘intimidating and coercing civilians’, in fact, there is no evidence of such a goal,” Carlo wrote.
Carlo is scheduled for a pretrial hearing on December 1, a few days after the next court appeal in federal cases against him.
Mangione pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of murder in the December 4, 2024 murder, including murder as an act of terrorism. Surveillance video shows masked gunman shooting Thompson From behind, he arrives at Midtown Hilton, New York for an investor meeting. Police said “delay,” “denial” and “destruction” were scratched on ammunition, mimicking phrases commonly used to describe insurance companies avoiding paying claims.
Mangione Five days later, he was arrested five days after having breakfast at McDonald’s, about 230 miles west of New York City. He has since been held in Brooklyn Federal Prison, with Sean Diddy’s comb locked up.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office believes there is no double-danger problem because neither Mangione’s case is tried and because state and federal prosecutions involve different legal theories.
The duel case created a “legal quagmire” that “legal and logically impossible to defend them at the same time,” said Mangione’s lawyer.
The state accuses maximum hit life span Mangione Want to “intimidate or coerce civilians”, i.e. insurance employees and investors. Federal charges claim Mangione track Thompson And no terrorism charges are involved.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced in April that she directed federal prosecutors to seek death penalty for “acts of political violence” and “premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked the United States.”
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office widely cites Mangione’s handwritten diary in a court application that attempts to defend his state murder. They highlighted his desire to kill insurance and his compliment to the late terrorist Ted Kaczynski.
Prosecutors said in the book, Mangione was addicted to rebel against the “fatal, greedy-enhancing health insurance cartel” and said killing industry executives “communicated a greedy asshole, and it came.” They also quoted a confession that they said he wrote “to the Fed”, which he wrote “must do it.”
“It is obvious from his actions, but his writings help make these intentions clear,” prosecutors said in a June document. They sometimes describe it as a work of the manifesto: “Transfer a clear message: murder,” Brian Thompson Aim to revolutionize the healthcare industry. ”
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Corrected the story to show that the judge ruled on Tuesday rather than Monday.
