“U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has directed prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Luigi Mangione, accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. This decision reflects the Justice Department’s commitment to President Trump’s push for new capital punishment cases. Mangione, facing federal and state murder charges, is accused of a premeditated attack on Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel. The killing shocked the nation and drew attention to issues within the health insurance industry. Surveillance footage captured the masked gunman shooting Thompson from behind, with bullets marked with anti-insurance sentiments. Mangione’s arrest in Pennsylvania followed a five-day manhunt, during which he was found with incriminating items. The case has raised concerns and frustrations surrounding health insurers and corporate America.”
In August 2024, a message was received mentioning “the target is insurance” as it meets all criteria, alongside another in October expressing a plan to harm an insurance company CEO. UnitedHealthcare stands as the largest health insurance provider in the U.S., clarifying that Mangione was not a client of the company. Mangione’s attorney, Karen Friedman-Agnifilo, has indicated an intention to challenge the admissibility of certain evidence obtained during his arrest. She has criticized the multiple jurisdictions pursuing Mangione’s case, characterizing it as a back-and-forth legal battle. Following his arrest, Mangione was swiftly transported back to New York via plane and helicopter and escorted up a Manhattan pier in a highly orchestrated event featuring numerous officers armed with assault rifles, including New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Upon his return to office on Jan. 20, Trump issued an executive order mandating the Justice Department to pursue capital punishment in federal cases when appropriate. During his tenure, Trump’s administration executed 13 federal inmates, marking the highest number under a single president in recent history. Although Biden ran on a platform that included a commitment to working towards abolishing federal capital punishment, he did not take significant actions in that direction. While Attorney General Merrick Garland halted federal executions in 2021, the Justice Department under Biden simultaneously fought to uphold the death sentences of many inmates. In his final days in office, Biden commuted the sentences of 37 out of the 40 individuals on federal death row, changing their punishments to life imprisonment. The remaining three inmates include Dylann Roof, convicted of the 2015 racist murders at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina; Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the perpetrator of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing; and Robert Bowers, responsible for the fatal shooting of 11 congregants at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue in 2018, the most lethal antisemitic attack in U.S. history.
