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If convicted, Luigi Mangione is now facing the death penalty.
Late last year, following a somewhat clownish manhunt, authorities arrested Mangione.
Many see him as an innocent man, possibly the victim of framing. Many see him as a nascent folk hero.
However, the Trump administration is accusing him of being a “cold-blooded assassin.” And Trump’s Attorney General is seeking to execute Mangione.
Trump’s AG is seeking the death penalty
On Tuesday, April 1, Donald Trump’s Attorney General, Pam Bondi, announced that she is directing federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty against Mangione.
“Mangione’s murder of Brian Thompson — an innocent man and father of two young children — was a premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America,” Bondi began in a statement.
“After careful consideration,” she claimed, “I have directed federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty in this case as we carry out President Trump’s agenda to stop violent crime and Make America Safe Again.”
U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi directs prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Luigi Mangione.
— Pop Base (@popbase.tv) April 1, 2025 at 11:27 AM
Someone fatally shot United Health CEO Brian Thompson in Manhattan on December 4.
Five days later, authorities arrested Mangione in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Police have claimed to have found evidence supporting the arrest in his possession.
Mangione has now spent months in jail. Though Americans have contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to his defense fund in support of him,
Why are so many people so sympathetic towards the accused, and not the victim?
So many people have expressed strong sympathies towards Mangione. And only some of this is about the evidence — what little we know of it — surrounding his arrest.
This is not about Mangione, but rather about the man who died. Because days before authorities claimed to have found the shooter, Thompson’s death was met with mockery and even celebration on social media.
To be blunt, healthcare in the United States is broken. When a healthcare giant’s CEO presides over the life and death of thousands of patients in an effort to maximize profits, they can, at best, expect little sympathy from the general public.
Some have characterized — and continue to characterize — Luigi Mangione as a “hero.”
We have to emphasize that this is inappropriate.
Whatever you think of the charges that he is facing, he remains innocent in the eyes of the law. If anything, “accused hero” would be more appropriate.
Why such a hard line policy against someone so wildly popular?
As for why Bondi would seek the death penalty in this case, it is easy to simply expect the worst from the worst people that this nation has to offer and leave it at that.
However, this particular move seems to fall in line with much of the Trump administration’s move, as they use the federal government’s power to silence and disappear critics all across America.
This is about more than the victims of these government-sponsored abductions. It is also about intimidating others into silence as the American constitutional crisis worsens.
Whoever killed Brian Thompson killed a CEO in one of America’s most reviled industries. Many of Trump’s cheerleaders and financial backers are CEOs of America’s most reviled industries.
If he can weaponize the federal government to make an example of someone so beloved, perhaps it will crush people’s spirits.
Targeting a beloved folk hero — whether he did the deed or not — does not always go over well for maniacal despots, in fiction or in history. But, to the Trump administration, part of the goal may be simple cruelty and revenge rather than the broader political strategy.