Attorney General Pam Bondi has directed federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty against Luigi Mangione.
He is accused of murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in December 2024. Thompson was shot and killed outside of a hotel in New York while on his way to an annual investor meeting.
“Luigi Mangione’s murder of Brian Thompson — an innocent man and father of two young children — was a premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America," Bondi said in a statement on Tuesday.
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Mangione faces numerous state and federal charges, including murder in the first degree "in furtherance of an act of terrorism." He has pleaded not guilty to state charges but has not yet entered a plea for federal charges of murder.
Mangione was arrested at a McDonald's in Pennsylvania after a multi-day manhunt.
He has attracted a cult-like following, with many upset about the U.S. health care system. Supporters have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for Mangione's legal defense. Billboards proclaiming his innocence have also appeared in lower Manhattan.
Investigators, however, stated that a gun recovered during Mangione's arrest was linked to shell casings found at the scene where Thompson was killed.
Mangione's attorney, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, said the decision to seek the death penalty "goes against the recommendation of the local federal prosecutors, the law, and historical precedent."
She added, "This is a corrupt web of government dysfunction and one-upmanship. Luigi is caught in a high-stakes game of tug-of-war between state and federal prosecutors, except the trophy is a young man’s life.”
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