Luigi Mangione was in Manhattan Supreme Court yesterday. We hadn’t seen Luigi since his last court appearance in February, when he wore a very flattering green sweater. Unfortunately for this week’s appearance, Luigi was forced to wear some ugly beige prison gear which did nothing for his Mediterranean coloring. Last year, Luigi was arrested and charged with killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York. Ever since his arrest, the authorities have acted like they caught Hannibal Lector, I swear to god. They marched him around in shackles and they even charged him with terrorism. Well, Luigi was in court yesterday because the terrorism charges were dismissed. As they should be.
New York State terrorism charges against Luigi Mangione, the defendant in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare’s chief executive last year, were dismissed on Tuesday, including a first-degree murder count that could have landed him in prison for the rest of his life.
The judge overseeing the case, Gregory Carro, said he had found the evidence behind the charges “legally insufficient.” Mr. Mangione, 27, also faces federal charges, and is still charged in New York with second-degree murder, for which he faces a sentence of 25 years to life, among nine other counts. Those cases will proceed, though no trial dates have been set.
In charging Mr. Mangione with terrorism, the Manhattan district attorney’s office seemed to acknowledge the seismic effect of a shooting that sent shock waves through American society and set off a groundswell of support for a defendant protesting the nation’s health care system. But the judge’s decision means that while Mr. Mangione may ultimately be proved a murderer, New York’s legal system will have nothing to say about the broader implications of his actions.
The decision by Justice Carro is a blow to the district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg. Mr. Bragg had argued that a terrorism charge was warranted because Mr. Mangione had targeted the chief executive, Brian Thompson, in the media capital of the world, Midtown Manhattan, at the beginning of a busy morning, hoping to create a spectacle that would help further his message.
The terrorism charges were always bullsh-t, so I’m glad this part was dismissed pre-trial. “Terrorism against healthcare CEOs” isn’t a thing. Murder? Sure. What happened to Brian Thompson was absolutely murder in cold blood. But it wasn’t terrorism. I’m genuinely fascinated to see what Luigi’s legal team does next, because it feels like the state’s case isn’t actually that strong.
Photos courtesy of Getty.
