Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old accused of assassinating UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, pleaded not guilty Friday in a Manhattan federal courtroom as the Department of Justice announced it would seek the death penalty. The case marks the first federal capital prosecution under President Trump’s second term.
Federal prosecutors, led by Attorney General Pam Bondi, allege that Mangione carried out a cold, premeditated attack on December 4, 2024. According to investigators, Mangione stalked Thompson and ambushed him in Midtown Manhattan, shooting him from behind in what authorities described as an “execution-style” assassination.
When Mangione was arrested days later in Altoona, Pennsylvania, authorities found him in possession of a 3D-printed firearm, forged identification documents, and a handwritten manifesto railing against the American healthcare system. The discovery underscored what prosecutors say was a carefully planned act of domestic terrorism, not a crime of passion or mental illness.
Attorney General Bondi confirmed that the Justice Department would pursue the death penalty, citing the attack’s premeditated nature and its broader threat to public safety. “There will be zero tolerance for politically motivated violence in President Trump’s America,” Bondi said.
Despite the gravity of the charges, Mangione has already gained a bizarre cult following. A small group of supporters, self-identifying as the “Luigi Girls,” has been gathering outside the courthouse with signs and chants, attempting to portray Mangione as some sort of anti-corporate hero. Their protests have been met with disgust by victims’ advocates and pro-law-and-order groups.
Mangione’s defense attorney, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, has blasted the DOJ’s decision to seek the death penalty, calling it “politically motivated” and accusing the government of denying Mangione’s due process rights. She has also raised claims that attorney-client privilege may have been violated during Mangione’s detention at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn—claims that prosecutors have dismissed as baseless.
Judge Margaret Garnett has set the next hearing for December 5, 2025, when a formal trial date could be announced. Mangione will remain behind bars until then.
The Trump administration’s pursuit of the death penalty in this case sends a clear signal: acts of politically motivated violence, no matter how they are dressed up by activists or the media, will be met with the full force of American justice.