{"id":161631,"date":"2025-09-16T20:38:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-16T20:38:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/161631\/"},"modified":"2025-09-16T20:38:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T20:38:09","slug":"judge-tosses-new-york-terrorism-charges-against-luigi-mangione","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/161631\/","title":{"rendered":"Judge tosses New York terrorism charges against Luigi Mangione"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 A New York judge on Tuesday threw out terrorism charges against Luigi Mangione<\/a>, rejecting the Manhattan district attorney\u2019s theory in a state murder case that the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was \u201cintended to evoke terror.\u201d<\/p>\n

Judge Gregory Carro kept other charges in place, including a second-degree murder count that requires prosecutors to prove Mangione intended to kill Thompson but not that he was doing so as an act of terrorism.<\/p>\n

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The ruling eliminated the top two charges in Mangione\u2019s state case, sparing him the possibility of a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole. The 27-year-old Ivy League graduate is also facing a parallel federal death penalty prosecution. Carro said the defense\u2019s argument that the dueling prosecutors amounted to double jeopardy was premature.<\/p>\n

Mangione, a cause c\u00e9l\u00e8bre for people upset with the health insurance industry<\/a>, appeared in good spirits and raised his eyebrows at supporters as police officers led him out of the brief hearing after Carro issued his ruling.<\/p>\n

In a written decision, the judge said that although there isn\u2019t any doubt that Thompson\u2019s killing last December was no ordinary street crime, state law in New York doesn\u2019t consider something terrorism simply because it was motivated by ideology.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile the defendant was clearly expressing an animus toward UHC, and the health care industry generally, it does not follow that his goal was to \u2018intimidate and coerce a civilian population,\u2019 and indeed, there was no evidence presented of such a goal,\u201d Carro wrote.<\/p>\n

The judge also said there was insufficient evidence that Mangione intended to influence or affect government policy by intimidation or coercion \u2014 another element of the terrorism charges. He noted that federal prosecutors hadn\u2019t charged Mangione with terrorism offenses even though the federal terrorism statute was a model for the state law.<\/p>\n

But in keeping the second-degree murder charge, Carro ruled there was sufficient evidence that Mangione \u201cmurdered Brian Thompson in a premeditated and calculated execution.\u201d That charge carries a potential penalty of 15 years to life in prison, with the possibility of parole.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Luigi<\/p>\n

Luigi Mangione is escorted into Manhattan state court in New York, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025. (AP Photo\/Seth Wenig)<\/p>\n

Luigi Mangione is escorted into Manhattan state court in New York, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025. (AP Photo\/Seth Wenig)<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

Afterward, Mangione lawyer Marc Agnifilo told TMZ: \u201cIt\u2019s a big win and it\u2019s the first of many.\u201d<\/p>\n

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg\u2019s office issued a brief statement, saying, \u201cWe respect the Court\u2019s decision and will proceed on the remaining nine counts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carro scheduled pretrial hearings in the state case for Dec. 1, just days before Mangione is next due in court in his federal case.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Members<\/p>\n

Members of the public, including a woman wearing a \u201cFree Luigi\u201d shirt, enter a courtroom before Luigi Mangione is escorted into the courtroom in New York, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025. (AP Photo\/Seth Wenig)<\/p>\n

Members of the public, including a woman wearing a \u201cFree Luigi\u201d shirt, enter a courtroom before Luigi Mangione is escorted into the courtroom in New York, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025. (AP Photo\/Seth Wenig)<\/p>\n

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Mangione handcuffed and shackled for court appearance<\/p>\n

Mangione, who has been locked up since his arrest, arrived in court in beige jail garb, handcuffs and ankle shackles. Making his first appearance in Carro\u2019s courtroom since February, he was mostly silent, quietly conferring with his lawyers as the judge outlined his decision.<\/p>\n

Echoing the scene at his last hearing<\/a>, a few dozen supporters \u2014 mostly women \u2014 packed three rows in the rear of the courtroom gallery. Some were dressed in green, the color worn by the Mario Bros. video game character Luigi. One woman sported a \u201cFREE LUIGI\u201d T-shirt. Across the street from the courthouse, cheers erupted from a pro-Mangione rally as news spread that the judge had dismissed his terrorism charges.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

AP correspondent Julie Walker reports Luigu Mangione, charged with killing the United Healthcare CEO, is in court Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Mangione pleaded not guilty late last year to multiple counts of murder, including murder as an act of terrorism<\/a>. Surveillance video showed a masked gunman shoot Thompson from behind on Dec. 4, 2024, as the executive arrived at a midtown Manhattan hotel for his company\u2019s annual investor conference. Police say the words \u201cdelay,\u201d \u201cdeny\u201d and \u201cdepose\u201d were scrawled on the ammunition, mimicking a phrase commonly used to describe how insurers avoid paying claims<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mangione was arrested five days later in Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 230 miles (370 kilometers) west of New York City.<\/p>\n

Judge rejects \u2018double jeopardy\u2019 argument<\/p>\n

Mangione\u2019s lawyers have argued that the simultaneous state and federal prosecutions violate double jeopardy protections meant to prevent people from being tried multiple times for the same crime. But Carro rejected that argument, saying it would be premature to make such a determination because neither case has gone to trial.<\/p>\n

Bragg\u2019s office contended that there are no double jeopardy issues, in part because the state and federal prosecutions involve different legal theories. The federal charges allege that Mangione stalked Thompson and do not involve terrorism allegations.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Luigi<\/p>\n

Luigi Mangione, accused of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, appears in Manhattan state court in New York, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025. (Curtis Means\/Pool Photo via AP)<\/p>\n

Luigi Mangione, accused of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, appears in Manhattan state court in New York, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025. (Curtis Means\/Pool Photo via AP)<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

Mangione\u2019s lawyers said the two cases have created a \u201clegal quagmire\u201d that makes it \u201clegally and logistically impossible to defend against them simultaneously.\u201d<\/p>\n

Diary writings had been a basis for the terrorism charges<\/p>\n

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi in April said she was directing federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty against Mangione for \u201can act of political violence\u201d and a \u201cpremeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bragg\u2019s office quoted extensively from Mangione\u2019s handwritten diary as they sought to uphold the terrorism charges. In a June court filing, they highlighted his desire to kill an insurance honcho and his praise for the late Theodore Kaczynski<\/a>, the convicted murderer known as the \u201cUnabomber.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

In the writings, prosecutors said, Mangione mused about rebelling against \u201cthe deadly, greed fueled health insurance cartel\u201d and said killing an industry executive \u201cconveys a greedy bastard that had it coming.\u201d They also cited a confession they say he penned \u201cTo the feds,\u201d in which he wrote \u201cit had to be done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mangione\u2019s \u201cintentions were obvious from his acts, but his writings serve to make those intentions explicit,\u201d prosecutors said. The writings, which they sometimes described as a manifesto, \u201cconvey one clear message: that the murder of Brian Thompson was intended to bring about revolutionary change to the healthcare industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carro noted in his ruling that terrorism \u201chas been famously difficult to define.\u201d He knocked prosecutors for emphasizing Mangione\u2019s use of the phrase \u201crevolutionary anarchism\u201d in their attempt to bolster their claim that he intended to influence government by intimidation or coercion.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot only does this stretch the import of a two-word phrase beyond what it can carry, but it ignores other, more explicit excerpts from defendant\u2019s writings in which he states that his goal is to spread a \u2018message\u2019 and \u2018win public support\u2019 about \u2018everything wrong with our health system,\u2019\u201d the judge wrote.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Collins reported from Hartford, Connecticut.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 A New York judge on Tuesday threw out terrorism charges against Luigi Mangione, rejecting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":161632,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[66970,23,1927,98220,28,2302,793,98221,694,3073,2221,68464,4227,98223,6429,6661,2005,1999,3,3131,24265,98222,795,21,19,22,20,25,24],"class_list":["post-161631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-alvin-bragg","tag-america","tag-ap-top-news","tag-brian-thompson","tag-business","tag-courts","tag-general-news","tag-gregory-carro","tag-homicide","tag-indictments","tag-legal-proceedings","tag-luigi-mangione","tag-manhattan","tag-marc-agnifilo","tag-minnesota","tag-mn-state-wire","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-news","tag-pam-bondi","tag-terrorism","tag-theodore-kaczynski","tag-u-s-news","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=161631"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161631\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/161632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=161631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=161631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=161631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}