U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondy said the decision was based on President Donald Trump’s agenda to stop crime and “make America safe again.”
Attorney General Pam Bondy said he had directed prosecutors to seek the death penalty against Luigi Mangione, the man accused of bombarding United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
This is the first time the Justice Department has tried to file the death penalty since US President Donald Trump took office in January on a campaign pledge to resume federal executions.
Bondy’s decision to pursue the death penalty comes from a well-known incident reported around the world against Mangion, which portrays a large number of supporters who vehemently oppose what they say is abuse by the healthcare industry.
Thompson’s murder has warned the corporate world, with some health insurance companies rushing to work remotely or online shareholder meetings. However, the incident also conveyed Americans’ deep frustration with health insurance companies, accused of denying a lot of critical care because of costs.
Mangion’s writings and words about bullets recovered from the scene reflect animus in health insurance companies and corporate America, authorities say.
Surveillance video showed a masked gunman who shot Thompson from behind. Police say the words “delay,” “denial,” and “retirement” were scribbled with ammunition, mimicking phrases commonly used to describe insurance companies’ tactics to avoid claims.
“Luigi Mangion’s murder of Brian Thompson – the innocent man and the father of two young children was a planned, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America,” Bondy described Thompson’s murder as “an act of political violence.”
“After careful consideration, I have directed federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty in this case when I carry out President Trump’s agenda to stop violent crimes and make America safe again,” Bondy said.
Trump was an outspoken supporter of overseeing unprecedented executions at the end of his first term and expanding the death penalty. The Bondi order comes weeks after lifting the suspension on the federal death penalty imposed under former President Joe Biden’s administration.
In his final weeks of office, Biden sentenced 37 of the 40 federal death row inmates, turning his punishment into life in prison.
Mangione, a 26-year-old Ivy League alumnus, is accused of bombarding Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel where United Healthcare was about to hold an investor meeting on December 4th. Thompson, who had two children in high school at age 50, worked for UnitedHealthcare and its parent company for decades.
Mangion faces separate federal and state murder charges for the murder. Federal charges include murder by using firearms that could be punished with death penalty. The state charges ow the biggest life punishment in prison. Mangion pleaded not guilty to the state’s indictment and has not sued federal charges.
Prosecutors say the two cases will proceed on parallel tracks, and the state’s cases are expected to go to trial first. It was not immediately clear whether Bondi’s announcement would change orders.
Mangion’s lawyer, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, said he would try to suppress some of the evidence seized during his arrest. She also condemns the “fighting jurisdiction” that transformed Mangion into a “human ping-pong ball” and has in parallel problems with prosecution.
Mangion was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 230 miles (370 km) west of New York City after a five-day manhunt.
Police said Mangion had along with him a 9mm handgun that matched those used for shooting and other items including fake IDs and “manifestos” written by authorities.
In an entry in the notebook, he said he had said “check all boxes” since August 2024, when he said “target is insurance,” and that he has explained his intention to “move” the insurance company’s CEO since October.
UnitedHealthCare is the largest health insurance company in the United States, but Mangione is by no means a client, the company says.
After his arrest, Mangion was whisked back into New York by plane and helicopter, slowly walking down the Manhattan pier and in a highly choreographed sight by an assault rifle and an accidental officer including Eric Adams of New York City.
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