Image Credit: Spencer Platt / Staff / Getty 
A New York state judge just moments ago dismissed terrorism charges against Luigi Mangione in the state’s case over the late 2024 killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, but kept second-degree murder charges in place.
New York Judge Gregory Carro ruled that although Mangione’s actions were ideologically motivated, New York law requires proof of intent to intimidate or coerce a civilian population for terrorism charges, which prosecutors failed to present.
Carro ruled that prosecutors presented “legally sufficient evidence of all other counts, including Murder in the Second Degree.” Mangione has pleaded not guilty to the rest of the charges.
This was the first time in five months that Mangione, a 27-year-old Ivy League graduate from Baltimore, Maryland, returned to a Manhattan courtroom.
Mangione’s “intentions were obvious from his acts, but his writings serve to make those intentions explicit,” prosecutors wrote in a recent filing, adding that the writings “convey one clear message: that the murder of Brian Thompson was intended to bring about revolutionary change to the healthcare industry.”
Law enforcement indicates the words “delay,” “deny,” and “depose” that were etched into the bullet casings, echoing a phrase commonly used to describe how major insurance companies avoid paying claims.
Mangione has remained in custody at a Brooklyn jail since his arrest, about five days after the December 4 killing of Thompson.
Mangione has developed a cult-like following within the Democratic Party, which conservative activists such as Charlie Kirk have long warned is a symptom of normalizing and spreading “assassination culture.”
Kirk was assassinated last week by what appears to be a “radical left, Antifa-adjacent creep” who also etched revolutionary terminology into bullet casings, including the word “Fascists.”
The radicalization timeline of Mangione should be scrutinized, including whether the Baltimore-based Gilman School or the University of Pennsylvania played any role in shaping his leftist ideology.
