New York judge tosses terrorism charges against Luigi Mangione, lets
murder count stand
[September 17, 2025]
By MICHAEL R. SISAK and DAVE COLLINS
NEW YORK (AP) — A New York judge on Tuesday threw out terrorism charges
against Luigi Mangione, rejecting the Manhattan district attorney’s
theory in a state murder case that the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO
Brian Thompson was “intended to evoke terror.”
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.
The ruling eliminated the top two charges in Mangione’s 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’s argument that the dueling prosecutors amounted to double
jeopardy was premature.
Mangione, a cause célèbre for people upset with the health insurance
industry, 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.
In a written decision, the judge said that although there isn't any
doubt that Thompson’s killing last December was no ordinary street
crime, state law in New York doesn’t consider something terrorism simply
because it was motivated by ideology.
“While the defendant was clearly expressing an animus toward UHC, and
the health care industry generally, it does not follow that his goal was
to ‘intimidate and coerce a civilian population,’ and indeed, there was
no evidence presented of such a goal,” Carro wrote.
The judge also said there was insufficient evidence that Mangione
intended to influence or affect government policy by intimidation or
coercion — another element of the terrorism charges. He noted that
federal prosecutors hadn't charged Mangione with terrorism offenses even
though the federal terrorism statute was a model for the state law.
But in keeping the second-degree murder charge, Carro ruled there was
sufficient evidence that Mangione “murdered Brian Thompson in a
premeditated and calculated execution.” That charge carries a potential
penalty of 15 years to life in prison, with the possibility of parole.
Afterward, Mangione lawyer Marc Agnifilo told TMZ: “It's a big win and
it's the first of many.”
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office issued a brief
statement, saying, “We respect the Court’s decision and will proceed on
the remaining nine counts."
Carro scheduled pretrial hearings in the state case for Dec. 1, just
days before Mangione is next due in court in his federal case.
Mangione handcuffed and shackled for court appearance
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’s courtroom since February, he was mostly silent,
quietly conferring with his lawyers as the judge outlined his decision.
Echoing the scene at his last hearing, a few dozen supporters — mostly
women — 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 “FREE LUIGI” 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.
Mangione pleaded not guilty late last year to multiple counts of murder,
including murder as an act of terrorism. 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’s annual
investor conference. Police say the words “delay,” “deny” and “depose”
were scrawled on the ammunition, mimicking a phrase commonly used to
describe how insurers avoid paying claims.
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Luigi Mangione is escorted into Manhattan state court in New York,
Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Mangione was arrested five days later in Altoona, Pennsylvania,
about 230 miles (370 kilometers) west of New York City.
Judge rejects ‘double jeopardy' argument
Mangione’s 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.
Bragg's 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.
Mangione’s lawyers said the two cases have created a “legal
quagmire” that makes it “legally and logistically impossible to
defend against them simultaneously.”
Diary writings had been a basis for the terrorism charges
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi in April said she was directing
federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty against Mangione for
“an act of political violence” and a “premeditated, cold-blooded
assassination that shocked America.”
Bragg's office quoted extensively from Mangione’s 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, the convicted murderer
known as the “Unabomber."
In the writings, prosecutors said, Mangione mused about rebelling
against “the deadly, greed fueled health insurance cartel” and said
killing an industry executive “conveys a greedy bastard that had it
coming." They also cited a confession they say he penned “To the
feds,” in which he wrote “it had to be done.”
Mangione’s “intentions were obvious from his acts, but his writings
serve to make those intentions explicit,” prosecutors said. The
writings, which they sometimes described as a manifesto, “convey one
clear message: that the murder of Brian Thompson was intended to
bring about revolutionary change to the healthcare industry.”
Carro noted in his ruling that terrorism “has been famously
difficult to define.” He knocked prosecutors for emphasizing
Mangione’s use of the phrase “revolutionary anarchism” in their
attempt to bolster their claim that he intended to influence
government by intimidation or coercion.
“Not 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’s writings in which he states that his goal is to spread a
‘message’ and ‘win public support’ about ‘everything wrong with our
health system,’” the judge wrote.
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Collins reported from Hartford, Connecticut.
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