Suspect Luigi Mangione is hit with terr0rism charges for UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s mÅ«rder

Luigi Mangione has been charged with mrder as an act of terrorism for the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.Mangione, 26, had already been charged with mrder for the December 4 slaying, but the indictment could help move along procedural steps toward extraditing the suspect, Mail Online reports.Under New York law, such a charge can be brought when an alleged crime is ‘intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population, influence the policies of a unit of government by intimidation or coercion and affect the conduct of a unit of government by mrder, ass@ss!nation or kidn@pping.’  Thompson, 50, was shot de@d as he walked to a Manhattan hotel where Minnesota-based UnitedHealthcare – the United States’ biggest medical insurer – was holding an investor conference. ‘This was a frightening, well-planned, targeted mrder that was intended to cause shock and attention and intimidation,’ Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said Tuesday. ‘It occurred in one of the most bustling parts of our city, threatened the safety of local residents and tourists alike, commuters and businesspeople just starting out on their day.’Mangione has two court hearings scheduled for Thursday, December 19,  in Pennsylvania, including an extradition hearing, Bragg noted.Hours after his arrest in Pennsylvania last week, the Manhattan district attorneys office filed paperwork charging him with murder and other offenses. The indictment builds on that paperwork.Mangione has taken on powerful New York attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo to represent him as he faces charges over Thompson’s death.Some legal experts have suggested Mangione avoid arguing over his guilt and focus on getting himself a lesser sentence by claiming extreme emotional disturbance.’There is no likely path to him walking out a free man,’ said Manhattan defense lawyer Ronald Kuby told The Wall Street Journal. ‘The best he could hope for is mitigation of the crime and punishment.’ ‘Usually the defendants entire history, their grievances, their pain, their sufferings, that all comes before the jury.’Investigators working theory is that Mangione, an Ivy League computer science grad from a prominent Maryland family, was propelled by anger at the US healthcare system.A law enforcement bulletin obtained by The Associated Press week said that when arrested, he was carrying a handwritten letter that called health insurance companies ‘parasitic’ and complained about corporate greed. On Wednesday, New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said police have matched a gun found on Mangione with the shell casings recovered at the scene and his fingerprints with a water bottle and energy bar wrapper found nearby.Other evidence includes handwritten documents found in his possession casting his alleged crime as a legitimate response to what he viewed as corporate greed, some media outlets have reported.The post Suspect Luigi Mangione is hit with terr0rism charges for UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s mrder appeared first on Linda Ikeji Blog.