U.S. authorities charged the man suspected of shooting to death a health insurance CEO in New York earlier this month on Tuesday with murder, including a charge of second-degree murder “as an act of terrorism.”
Mangione, 26, is accused of shooting UnitedHealthcare Chief Executive Brian Thompson on a Manhattan street on Dec. 4, sparking a nationwide manhunt that ended last week when he was spotted at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s.
The former data engineer remains jailed in that state as he fights efforts to extradite him to New York to face murder charges, which has taken into account widespread public anger against the US health care system.
“Mangione is charged with one count of murder in the first degree and two counts of murder in the second degree, including one count of murder in the second degree as an act of terrorism,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said.
Bragg said the terrorism charge was included because the shooting met the requirements for such a determination under New York law.
“In the most basic terms, this was a murder intended to cause terror and we have seen that reaction,” he said. “This was no ordinary murder.”
The maximum sentence on the murder charge Mangione faces is life in prison without parole, Bragg said.
The suspect was also charged with multiple crimes related to possession of the weapon, which authorities said was a 3D-printed “ghost gun.”
“We allege that he … pulled out a nine-millimeter 3D-printed ghost gun equipped with a 3D-printed suppressor and shot (Thompson) once in the back and once in the leg,” Bragg said.
He said, “These weapons are spreading rapidly throughout New York City and across the country. Advancing technology will only make this problem worse.”
“Last year, more than 80 ghost guns and ghost gun parts were recovered in Manhattan alone.”
‘Shocking and horrifying’
In the wake of Thompson’s murder, many social media users have criticized Mangione, with some even calling for further murders of other CEOs.
New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch criticized members of the public who praised the killing.
“In the nearly two weeks since Mr. Thompson was murdered, we have witnessed a shocking and horrific celebration of brutal murder,” Tisch said.
Mangione is scheduled to appear in a Pennsylvania court on Thursday for his extradition hearing in New York.
Police say a “life-altering, life-altering” back injury may have motivated Mangione, although they said there was “no indication” that he was ever a UnitedHealthcare customer.
When Mangione was arrested, he was carrying a three-page handwritten text criticizing the American health care system.
Police have said that Mangione’s fingerprints match those found near the crime scene, and that they match those from a gun casing found near him when he was arrested.
Bragg said the suspect traveled to New York on November 24 with the intention of murdering Thompson.
On December 4, he is accused of waiting “for approximately an hour” outside the hotel where Thompson was shot that morning.
District Attorney Bragg said, “This was a horrific, well-planned, targeted murder intended to shock, attract attention, and intimidate.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
