Attorneys for Luigi Mangione asked a judge to stop federal prosecutors from seeking the death penalty against their client, saying the U.S. government “intends to kill Mr. Mangione as a political stunt.”
The motion filed Friday in the U.S. District Court of the Southern District said U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi ordered the death penalty to “carry out President Trump’s agenda to stop violent crime and Make America Safe Again.”
Mangione, 26, who faces state murder and terrorism charges in New York, along with federal murder and stalking charges, is accused of murdering United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson last year in New York City.
Because an assassination specifically involves the killing of someone holding political power or public office… like an elected official, diplomat, or head of state. CEOs may have economic influence or lobby politicians, but they’re not government officials or elected representatives. Calling it an assassination falsely equates corporate influence with legitimate political authority, elevating economic power to the same status as democratic representation. It’s a murder, not an assassination. Words matter, and precision here is crucial.
I feel like acknowledging that corporate interests DO have extreme political power is kind of the whole point.