US prosecutors on Tuesday (December 17) charged Luigi Mangione with the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, first-degree murder, second-degree murder, and “an act of terrorism.”
Thompson was gunned down on a Manhattan street on December 4 in a case that triggered outrage and a nationwide search. Authorities apprehended 26-year-old Mangione last week at a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania, where he remains in custody while contesting extradition to New York.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said Mangione faces one count of first-degree murder, two counts of second-degree murder, “including one count of murder in the second degree as an act of terrorism”—and several weapons charges related to his use of a 3D-printed firearm.
Bragg explained the terrorism charge, saying, “In its most basic terms, this was a killing that was intended to evoke terror, and we’ve seen that reaction,” adding that it “was not an ordinary killing.”
The maximum sentence for the crimes is life in prison without parole. Prosecutors say Mangione used a 3D-printed nine-millimeter “ghost gun” outfitted with a suppressor to shoot the UnitedHealthcare CEO.
As stated by the Manhattan District Attorney, “We allege he. Took 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.”
Manhattan District Attorney Bragg mentioned that the concern regarding the existence of ghost guns has been increasing; “last year, over 80 ghost guns and ghost gun parts were recovered in Manhattan alone.”
