On Tuesday (December 17), Luigi Mangione was charged with first-degree murder and two counts of second-degree murder for the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare’s chief executive, Brian Thompson. The first charge has classified him as a terrorist.

The 26-year-old is accused of assassinating Thompson earlier this month, on December 4, outside the entrance of the New York Hilton Midtown hotel, where Thompson was attending an annual investors’ meeting for UnitedHealth Group. When Mangione was apprehended at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, police found a 262-word manifesto on his person. In it, he wrote: “Frankly, these parasites simply had it coming. A reminder: the US has the #1 most expensive healthcare system in the world, yet we rank roughly #42 in life expectancy.”

He continued: “United is the [indecipherable] largest company in the US by market cap, behind only Apple, Google, Walmart. It has grown and grown, but has our life expectancy? No. The reality is, these [indecipherable] have simply gotten too powerful, and they continue to abuse our country for immense profit because the American public has allowed them to get away with it.”

In a news conference on Tuesday, Manhattan district attorney Alvin L Bragg described the act as “a frightening, well-planned, targeted murder that was intended to cause shock, attention, and intimidation.” Prosecutors argued that Mangione’s actions were designed to instil terror and, therefore, warrant the first-degree murder charge. They stated the killing was “intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population” and “affect the conduct of a unit of government by murder.” In New York, first-degree murder requires an additional aggravating factor, such as terrorism. The decision to label Mangione’s actions as terrorism has sparked widespread criticism, with many pointing out the hypocrisy of the US judicial system. Critics argue that while an individual is branded a terrorist for killing a CEO, the CEOs of health insurance companies – whose predatory practices contribute to the deaths of hundreds and thousands, particularly among working-class, disabled and marginalised communities – face no such charges.

It appears that New York authorities are attempting to make an example of Mangione due to the public support he has garnered online and offline. From fan cams and calls to “Free Luigi” outside of the prison he is being held in, in Pennsylvania, to assertions that Mangione should be Time’s Person of the Year instead of Donald Trump, the response has been unprecedented. A recent Emerson College poll of 1,000 young voters revealed that 41 per cent found Thompson’s killing acceptable, raising concerns among officials that Mangione’s actions could spark a wave of class consciousness. 

Mangione has been denied bail and is awaiting trial in New York. He remains in maximum security at Huntingdon State Correctional Institution in Pennsylvania.