Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement on Tuesday that she had directed federal prosecutors to seek the penalty for the “premeditated, cold-blooded assassination”.

In the press release, Bondi said Mr Thompson’s murder “was an act of political violence” and that it “may have posed grave risk of death to additional persons” nearby.

A lawyer for Mr Mangione called the decision “barbaric”, accused the government of “defending the broken, immoral, and murderous healthcare industry”, and said Mr Mangione was caught in a tug-of-war between state and federal prosecutors.

“While claiming to protect against murder, the federal government moves to commit the pre-meditated, state-sponsored murder of Luigi,” said Karen Friedman Agnifilo in a statement.

[These are highlights, for the full article, use link]

  • MuskyMelon@lemmy.world
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    If it’s valid to seek the death penalty for Luigi, then every wrongful death claim against an insurance company should include a criminal element that seeks the death penalty for the CEO.

    • SirEDCaLot@lemmy.today
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      Yeah I’m also struggling to see the logic in this.
      The dude is already sort of a folk hero. If you kill him you will absolutely be creating a martyr. It’s going to be one of those things that might not make a big impact right away, but the worse shit gets for rank and file Americans the more they will remember Luigi. And that’s when you get copycats…

    • ohulancutash@feddit.uk
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      More like political ambition. I’ll never understand a country that elects its prosecutors. Madness.

    • spector@lemmy.ca
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      Luigi hasn’t really sparked much more than social media posts. The powers that be know they have us sedated.

      • deeferg@lemmy.world
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        Yeah I’m going to have to see a lot more out of Americans to actually feel like Luigi made a change.

  • elatedCatfish@lemm.ee
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    Again, if this supposed killer was a danger to other persons at the time - why was the witness we saw in the video left unharmed? Why weren’t the streets cleared immediately? Following the fortunate death of that POS, officers said that there was no threat to anyone else in the area.

    Make a martyr. You stupid fucks. Others will come for you too then when the time comes.

    • aramis87@fedia.io
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      why was the witness we saw in the video left unharmed?

      Two witnesses. There was the lady on the sidewalk, and there was a driver in the car parked at the curb that he walked in front of (you could see the brake lights flash).

    • Akrenion@slrpnk.net
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      24 hours ago

      One could argue that the threat of imitation is considerable. However we have not seen any open discussion of further attempts so that might be a mute point.

  • Alexstarfire@lemmy.world
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    The killing of a non-political figure due to that person heading a company that regularly rejects insurance claims of sick people is “political violence” in what way? If this is political violence then every killing is.

    • Chozo@fedia.io
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      His manifesto suggests political motives more than personal ones.

      • yeahiknow3@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        If every ideological thought is also political, then so are most murders.

        If everything is political, then nothing is political.

        • Chozo@fedia.io
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          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.

          I mean, it seems pretty clear that Luigi didn’t have a personal beef with Thompson directly, but moreso with the political system that allowed Thompson to thrive. I’m not really sure why saying this was politically-motivated is so divisive.

          • yeahiknow3@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            “It’s clear that the mass murderer didn’t have personal beef with the women he killed. It’s ideological because he hates society.”

            So I guess everything is terrorism.

                • Chozo@fedia.io
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                  No, I can see that. What I don’t understand is why. “If the situation were different, then the situation would be different” isn’t really saying anything, so I’m not sure what the point of that was.

  • disguy_ovahea@lemmy.world
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    I hope the defense leans into this, as well as the claims of guilt before trial, as evidence of bias. Would they be doing the same if a white person allegedly shot a migrant? Or a Christian allegedly shot a Muslim?

  • notsure@fedia.io
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    I was under the impression that Luigi Mangione was INNOCENT until PROVEN guilty by a jury of his peers…

  • Donjuanme@lemmy.world
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    I don’t think there was anything political about it.

    CEO was a bastard who thrived on other people’s suffering. Oh wait maybe there could be a warped political bend to this.

  • ryedaft@sh.itjust.works
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    Whether it was Luigi or someone else that shot him, from the video it didn’t seem like anyone else was in danger.

  • 60d@lemmy.ca
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    Looks like nothing was lost when that CEO died. There was only righteousness in the killers actions.

    I’m pretty sure that the shooter is not guilty by reason of benefiting society at large.