Luigi Mangione was previously charged with murder for the Dec. 4 killing of Brian Thompson, but the terrorism allegation is new.
Under New York law, such a charge can be brought when an alleged crime is “intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population, to influence the policy of a governmental unit through intimidation or coercion, and to affect the conduct of a government unit by murder, assassination or kidnapping.
Mangione’s New York lawyer has not commented on the case.
Mr. Thompson, 50, was shot to death on his way to a Manhattan hotel where Minnesota-based UnitedHealthcare – the largest medical insurer in the United States – was holding an investors’ conference.
After days of intense police search, Mangione was arrested on December 9 after being spotted at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania. New York police said Mangione carried the gun used to kill Thompson, a passport and several fake ID cards, including the one the suspected shooter presented to check into a New York hostel.
The 26-year-old was charged in Pennsylvania with firearms and counterfeiting offenses and was held in that state without bail. His attorney in Pennsylvania questioned the evidence for the tampering charge and the legal basis for the gun charge. The lawyer also said Mangione would oppose extradition to New York.
The indictment could help advance the suspect’s extradition proceedings.
Hours after his arrest, the Manhattan district attorney’s office filed documents charging him with murder and other crimes. The indictment is based on these documents.
Investigators’ theory is that Mangione, an Ivy League computer science graduate from a prominent Maryland family, was driven by anger at the American health care system. A law enforcement bulletin obtained by The Associated Press indicates that when he was arrested, he had on him a handwritten letter calling health insurance companies “parasites” and complaining about corporate greed.
Mr Mangione has repeatedly posted messages on social media explaining how a spinal operation last year had relieved his chronic back pain, encouraging people with similar conditions to fight back if they are told they we just have to put up with it.
In a post on Reddit at the end of April, he advised people with back problems to seek the advice of other surgeons and, if necessary, to say that the pain was preventing them from working .
“We live in a capitalist society,” Mr. Mangione wrote. “I have found that the medical industry reacts to these keywords much more urgently than when you are describing unbearable pain and the impact it has on your quality of life.”
He was never a UnitedHealthcare customer, according to the insurer.
Mangione has apparently cut himself off from his family and close friends over the past few months. His family reported him missing to San Francisco authorities in November.
Mr. Thompson, who grew up on a farm in a small town in Iowa, trained as an accountant. Married and father of two high school students, he worked for 20 years for the giant UnitedHealth Group, where he became CEO of the insurance branch in 2021.
His killing sparked a wave of resentment against U.S. health insurance companies, with Americans sharing stories online and elsewhere of denials of coverage, uncertainty due to disagreements between doctors and insurers, and steep bills. .
The shooting also shook staffs, as wanted posters bearing the names and faces of other health care executives appeared on the streets of New York and an outpouring of online vitriol prompted the police to warn there could be a “high threat”.
