Federal prosecutors have officially declared their intent to seek the death penalty for alleged assassin Luigi Mangione.
The 26-year-old is facing a slew of federal charges – including murder through the use of a firearm, which makes him eligible for the death penalty – for the December shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Mangione – who is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, and is housed in the same unit as other famous faces including Sean ‘Diddy‘ Combs and Sam Bankman-Fried – is expected to plead not guilty to the charges when he shows up to federal court on Friday.
But just hours before he is due to appear in court, federal prosecutors filed a formal notice in the Southern District of New York stating they will seek the death penalty if he were to be convicted of Thompson’s murder.
The filing from the Manhattan US Attorney’s office declares that Mangione ‘presents a future danger because he expressed an intent to target an entire industry, and rally political and social opposition to that industry.’
‘[He engaged] 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 document states, according to Fox News.
Prosecutors also claimed in the filing that Mangione’s decision to target Thompson outside of a Manhattan hotel made clear that he sought to ‘amplify an ideological message, maximize the visibility and impact of the victim’s murder and to provoke broad-based resistance to the victim’s industry,‘ ABC News reports.
Thursday’s filing, though, just marked a formality in the government’s case against Mangione, as Attorney General Pam Bondi previously announced that her office would seek the ultimate punishment.
Federal prosecutors officially declared their intent to seek the death penalty for Luigi Mangione hours before he is due to appear in court
Mangione is accused of gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson (pictured) outside a New York City hotel on December 4, 2024
‘After careful consideration, I have directed federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty in this case as we carry out President Trump’s agenda to stop violent crime and Make America Safe Again,’ she said earlier this month.
Bondi went on to claim that Thompson’s murder was ‘an act of political violence.’
‘Mangione’s actions involved substantial planning and premeditation and because the murder took place in public with bystanders nearby, may have posed grave risk of death to additional persons,’ the attorney general said.
Yet Mangione was met with an outpouring of support after his arrest as morbid fans vented their fury with the healthcare system.
Those fans have since gushed over his sockless loafers and chic courtroom sweaters, and were left devastated last week when they learned photography and videography of his court appearance on Friday will be banned.
Mangione’s attorneys have not yet responded to the formal petition for the death penalty, but have previously claimed that Bondi’s announcement was ‘unapologetically political’ and breached government protocols for death penalty decisions.
In court documents obtained by DailyMail.com, the lawyers argued that prosecutors who were seeking to execute Mangione were ‘carrying out Trump’s agenda.’
Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement that her office would push for the death penalty against Mangione earlier this month
The filing referenced a press release and an Instagram post by Attorney General Pam Bondi that ‘plainly stated’ Mangione is guilty of the murder of Thompson, despite his ongoing trial.
In seeking safety from the punishment, documents referenced a press release and an Instagram post by Bondi that ‘plainly stated’ Mangione is guilty of the murder of Thompson, despite his ongoing trial.
‘The stakes could not be higher. The United States government intends to kill Mr. Mangione as a political stunt,’ the court documents state, claiming that the public addresses from Attorney General Pam Bondi regarding Mangione’s case have violated his Due Process rights,’ the filing said.
Attorney Karen Agnifilo also previously argued that the police leaked writings they said belonged to Mangione and labeled them a ‘manifesto’ – thereby spreading fear in an effort to justify prosecutors’ terrorism charge.
The writings were released shortly after Mangione was arrested at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s following a five-day search for the masked man who gunned down Thompson.
He was allegedly found with a 9-millimeter pistol and silencer, clothing that matched the apparel worn by the shooter in surveillance footage, and a notebook describing an intent to ‘whack’ an insurance company CEO, according to court filings.
But Agnifilo now says there is ‘absolutely no evidence’ to suggest her client wrote the so-called manifesto as she called out prosecutors for sharing the message.
When Mangione was arrested, he was allegedly found with a 9-millimeter pistol and silencer, clothing that matched the apparel worn by the shooter in surveillance footage of Thompson’s murder (pictured)
Meanwhile, Mangione is facing separate charges in the Big Apple and lesser charges of false identification and weapons charges in Pennsylvania.
If he were to be convicted in the federal case, the jury would hold a separate phase of the trial to determine whether to recommend the death penalty.
Any such recommendation must be unanimous, and the judge would be required to impose it.
