MIDTOWN ASSASSIN: Luigi Mangione indicted for allegedly executing health insurance CEO outside hotel

A grand jury has indicted alleged Midtown assassin Luigi Mangione for the Dec. 4 murder United HealthCare CEO Brian Thompson outside a hotel, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced Tuesday.

Two of the counts in the indictment were classified as acts of terrorism or in furtherance of terrorism.

Xem thêm : Soaring Insurance Rates Show Climate Change Is a Pocketbook Issue  

Mangione, 26, remains locked up in Pennsylvania following his Dec. 9 arrest amid a nationwide manhunt, having been found at an Altoona McDonald’s restaurant in possession of the suspected murder weapon — a 3D-printed handgun with a suppressor — and a fake ID he allegedly presented to an Upper West Side hostel where he stayed ahead of the murder.

Bragg described the killing of Thompson — who was gunned down on the morning of Dec. 4 outside the Hilton hotel on West 54th Street — as an act of “premeditate, targeted gun violence” that “cannot and will not be tolerated.”

“Our work will never be able to undo the fact that a life was lost,” Bragg said at the outset of a press conference at his office Tuesday announcing the Mangione indictment. “This was a frightening, well-planned targeted murder that was intended to cause shock, horror and attention.”

“The intent was to sow terror,” Bragg added later.

‘No heroism in what Mangione allegedly did’

Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the indictment brings the city a step closer to obtaining justice for Thompson’s family and upholding the rule of law — but she also took to task those around the city and on social media who have celebrated the killing as a righteous act, and Mangione as a cult hero.

Xem thêm : California aims to expand insurance coverage in fire-prone areas with new rules

“In the nearly two weeks since Mr. Thompson’s killing, we have seen a shocking and appalling celebration of cold-blooded murder. Social media has erupted with praise for this cowardly attack,” Tisch said. “There is no heroism in what Mangione [allegedly] did. This was a senseless act of violence. It was a cold and calculated murder.” 

Prosecutors allege that Mangione came to New York with the intent of killing Thompson, arriving in late November and staying at an Upper West Side hostel — where he presented a fake New Jersey ID upon checking in; the same ID would later be found in his possession upon his Dec. 9 arrest.

For more than an hour on the morning of Dec. 4, Bragg explained, Mangione allegedly waited outside the Hilton Hotel in Midtown waiting for Thompson to emerge.

When the United HealthCare CEO came out, prosecutors noted, Mangione allegedly made his move — approaching Thompson from behind, pulling out a 3D-printed 9mm ghost gun and suppressor and opening fire. Two shots struck Thompson: one in the back, and one in the leg.

Following the killing, Mangione allegedly fled the scene on foot on West 54th Street before hopping on an e-bike and heading into nearby Central Park.

Thompson was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Citing law enforcement sources, ABC News reported Tuesday that Mangione is apparently set to waive his extradition rights at a Pennsylvania court hearing scheduled for this Thursday, Dec. 19; that would clear the way for New York law enforcement officials to take him into custody, and bring him back to Manhattan for prosecution.

Bragg initially filed charges of second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon against Mangione last week — but a grand jury in Manhattan boosted those counts in its indictment unsealed Tuesday charging the suspect with first-degree murder “in furtherance of terrorism,” along with two additional counts of second-degree murder — one of which was described as an act of terrorism.

Mangione was additionally indicted for third- and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon and second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument.

The first-degree murder charge carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment without parole upon conviction, Bragg noted.