UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting suspect indicted on murder charges with prosecution calling it ‘act of terrorism’
The indictment comes as a poll found four in 10 young adults admit they find the killing of health insurance CEO ‘acceptable’
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Luigi Mangione, the suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, has been indicted on murder charges, with prosecutors in New York describing it as “an act of terrorism.”
The indictment comes as a poll found four in 10 young adults consider the killing of health insurance CEO “acceptable.”
The new poll by Emerson College found that 41 percent of young adults between the ages of 18 and 29 found the killing acceptable, while 68 percent of people surveyed overall believe it is unacceptable.
Breaking down the younger demographic further, the poll found that 17 percent of young people surveyed found the suspect’s alleged actions “completely acceptable,” and 24 percent found it “somewhat acceptable.”
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said at a press conference Tuesday afternoon that the first-degree murder charge against Mangione accuses the suspected shooter of committing “an act of terrorism involving a violent act and acts dangerous to human life.”
The act was “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 murder, assassination or kidnapping,” Bragg explained.
The charge could expedite Mangione’s extradition to New York.
After a nearly week-long manhunt, the 26-year-old suspect was arrested at a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania last Monday.
Mangione’s supporters have donated thousands of dollars towards his “defense” fund. The anonymous fund “December 4th Legal Committee” has amassed more than $140,000 in donations on the crowdfunding website GiveSendGo.
At Tuesday’s press conference, New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch addressed the “appalling celebration” of Thompson’s murder by Americans who are frustrated with the country’s health insurance industry.
“In the nearly two weeks since Mr. Thompson’s killing, we have seen a shocking and appalling celebration of cold-blooded murder,” Tisch said. “Social media has erupted with praise for this cowardly attack.
“People ghoulishly plastered posters threatening the CEOs, other CEOs, with an X over Mr. Thompson’s picture, as though he was some sort of a sick trophy,” she added.
Tisch held up a copy of the New York Post’s front page from Monday, which reported that activists were circulating a deck of cards with other “Most Wanted” CEOs to be targeted.
“These are the threats of a lawless, violent mob who would trade in their own vigilantism for the rule of law that protects us all,” Tisch added.
“Let me say this plainly, there is no heroism in what Mangione did. It was a cold and calculated crime that stole a life and put New Yorkers at risk. We don’t celebrate murders, and we don’t lionize the killing of anyone,” she emphasized.
Mangione is set to appear in a Pennsylvania court for a preliminary hearing on December 19.