Will Luigi Mangione's Terrorism Charge Hold Up? Legal Analysts Weigh In

Luigi Mangione's terrorism charge could be a tactic by prosecutors to enhance their ability to convey that his alleged shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was premeditated, legal analyst Michael McAuliffe told Newsweek.

A spokesperson for Mangione's attorney, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, declined to comment Friday when contacted by Newsweek.

Why It Matters

Mangione, 26, is accused of killing Thompson in New York City on December 4 in a protest against the medical insurance industry. He faces federal murder charges, potentially resulting in the death penalty, and six New York state charges, including terrorism-related murder, which could lead to life without parole. He has pleaded not guilty to the New York charges.

Mangione is also facing gun and forgery charges in Pennsylvania, accused of possessing a ghost gun and fake ID.

What To Know

New York law states the terrorism charge can be brought if the act "intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population, influence the policies of a unit of government by intimidation or coercion and affect the conduct of a unit of government by murder, assassination or kidnapping."

McAuliffe, a former federal prosecutor and former elected state attorney, told Newsweek: "One way to charge first-degree murder is to attach the intent to further terrorism to the killing. The danger with charging the defendant with terrorism is that the victim wasn't a governmental official and didn't set governmental policy. He [Thompson] was a corporate executive.

"Terrorism is a violent act that employs terror as a mechanism to influence or alter governmental policy. Terrorism can also be aimed at intimidation or coercion of the civilian population, but the individual-targeted nature of the assassination undermines that theory.

"Even if a judge or jury doesn't accept the terrorism component of the charges, the defendant can still be guilty of the killing and convicted of murder. The terrorism part of the charges might be a tactic to enhance the prosecutors' ability to tell the whole story of the planning of the murder and cold execution-style manner of killing the victim."

More Analysts Weigh In

Mercedes Colwin, criminal defense attorney, told Newsweek on Friday, "In New York, terrorism-related charges typically involve acts intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population or influence government policy. The prosecution will have a fairly easy task of demonstrating that Mangione was attempting to create terror amongst insurance company executives. Indeed, the press has reported insurance companies have scrubbed their websites of their executive leaders' names following Brian Thompson's murder. I checked UHC's website and received an error message when I put in the query 'about us/leadership' and could not find any names of their executives."

Colwin continued, "Perhaps the most damning of all is the notebook recovered from Mangione following his arrest in Pennsylvania. If the notebook remains evidence for the prosecution (there will no doubt be arguments and motions from the defense on why it should be suppressed) there were specific references about the UnitedHealth Group, the parent company of United HealthCare – pointing out that its growth has not improved the country's life expectancy."

"Although Mangione doesn't mention any other insurance companies by name, he does express deep hostility towards the health insurance industry as a whole. Given the level of planning and the targeting of the insurance industry, because as he put it in the notebook, 'it checks every box' to promote terror in this specific group, the Prosecution will be able to set forth a viable argument for Mangione to be prosecuted under NY terror laws," Colwin said.

Neama Rahmani, former federal prosecutor, told Newsweek, "I don't know if the terrorism charges will hold up at trial. Terrorism requires the death to be intended to intimidate or coerce the population or influence government policy."

"I question the wisdom of District Attorney [Alvin] Bragg's office filing terrorism charges. It opens the door to evidence of why Mangione killed Thompson. That makes jury sympathy or nullification more likely."

Rahmani continued, "I understand that New York's first degree murder statute is narrow, and terrorism is one of a few ways to elevate murder from second to first degree. But there is no death penalty in New York and both first and second degree murder carry a potential life sentence in prison, so the terrorism charge doesn't add much except for the minimum sentence Mangione may receive."

"Bragg may be overcharging the case, like he did with the Donald Trump and Daniel Penny cases. Overcharging presents its own set of problems and Bragg may be unnecessarily complicating a simple murder case with overwhelming DNA, fingerprint, ballistics, and video evidence that Mangione was the triggerman," he said.

What People Are Saying

Former Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Jeremy Saland during a December 17 appearance on CNN: "I, maybe objectively or subjectively, believe this is a bit of a stretch. If...you kill a police officer, that's one thing. If you kill a witness to a crime, that's something else too that would rise to this first-degree homicide or murder. But this is, I think, if I'm someone whose brother or sister or sibling was murdered on the street. Why should a CEO's murder be treated differently than my loved one? I think it's trying to send a message. But I think it's going to also potentially cause them problems and that's why they kept also that regular, if you will, murder two."

Greg Germain, an attorney with over 30 years of experience, told Newsweek on Friday: "It's hard for me to imagine jury nullification. People may not like their health insurance companies, but I don't think they will condone murdering insurance executives in the street.

"The prosecution will show the jury that he was a human being who was ambushed. The only possible defense I could imagine is insanity, which is very hard to establish in a planned case like this."

What Happens Next

Mangione remains jailed at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn, New York. His next court appearance in New York is set for February 21. No court date is set for the federal charges.

Update 12/27/24, 6:17 p.m.: This article was updated with comments from Colwin and Rahmani.

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