NY Judge Tosses Terrorism Counts Against Luigi Mangione In United Healthcare CEO Killing

A New York state judge has thrown out terrorism charges against Luigi Mangione in connection with the 2024 slaying of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, while leaving in place a second-degree murder charge.

Justice Gregory Carro ruled Tuesday that there was “legally insufficient” evidence to sustain two counts; murder in the first degree in furtherance of an act of terrorism and murder in the second degree as a crime of terrorism. Mangione still faces a charge of second-degree murder for the December 2024 shooting of Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel. Carro noted that prosecutors had “presented legally sufficient evidence of all other counts.”

In explaining the dismissal, Carro emphasized the “unique meaning” of terrorism. Prosecutors had claimed in a June filing that Mangione sought to intimidate United Health Care employees and “bring about revolutionary change to the healthcare industry.” Authorities pointed to writings in which Mangione said he wanted to call attention to “everything wrong with our health system,” and to financially damage United Health Care. But the judge said that linking Mangione’s motive to terrorism could “trivialize the term.”

“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. He added that prosecutors had shown Mangione “killed Thompson in a premeditated execution,” but had not proved he acted with “terroristic intent.”

Mangione, 27, also faces a federal death-penalty prosecution alleging he stalked Thompson before the killing. Attorney General Pam Bondi authorized capital punishment in April, calling the incident a “premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America.”

Defense lawyers had urged Carro to dismiss the entire state case, arguing that forcing Mangione to testify could hurt his defense at the federal trial and violate his right against self-incrimination. Carro rejected that argument as “premature,” writing that the simultaneous prosecutions do not breach constitutional protections against double jeopardy because there has been no guilty plea or jury verdict in either case. “This court is not persuaded that proceeding to trial in the state case first will cause the defendant severe prejudice, and the defendant’s claim that any state trial testimony will prejudice his federal trial is merely speculative,” he wrote.

Carro scheduled a pretrial hearing in the state case for December 1, with Mangione set to appear in federal court shortly afterward.

Outside Manhattan Criminal Court, about 40 Mangione supporters rallied with “Free Luigi” signs, chanting, “One struggle, one fight, healthcare is a human right.” Cheers erupted as news spread that the judge had dismissed the terrorism counts. Mangione’s lawyer Karen Agnifilo emerged smiling alongside her team as the crowd shouted, “Thank you, Karen!”

The decision means Mangione will stand trial only for second-degree murder under state law rather than the terrorism charges initially filed. Mangione has denied murder as well as stalking and firearms charges in the federal case.