Devoted fans of Luigi Mangione, the culprit in the murder of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO, celebrated outside the courthouse after he won his case.
A judge dismissed two terror-related charges against Mangione in his New York State case on Tuesday, marking his first court appearance in five months.
Two charges—murder in the first degree in furtherance of an act of terrorism and murder in the second degree as a crime of terrorism—were dismissed by Judge Gregory Carro in favor of the defense.
Mangione’s team contended that the two counts ought to be dropped because, according to New York State law, crimes of terrorism include attacks on numerous citizens rather than the shooting of a single person.
Judge Carro stated in his written ruling that while it is undeniable that the murder was not a typical street crime, New York law does not classify it as terrorism merely because it was ideologically motivated.
The judge wrote: “While the defendant was clearly expressing an animus toward UHC, and the healthcare industry generally, it does not follow that his goal was to ‘intimidate and coerce a civilian population,’ and indeed, there was no evidence presented of such a goal,”
The judge did not, however, drop Mangione’s accusation of second-degree murder. Mangione is still being prosecuted by federal prosecutors who are pursuing the death sentence in two different instances in Pennsylvania.
