April 1 (UPI) -- This story update includes comments made by Mangione's lead defense attorney.
Attorney General Pamela Bondi announced Tuesday she will seek the death penalty for Luigi Mangione for the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Mangione, faces federal charges for stalking and killing Thompson as well as the use of a silencer in a crime of violence, and Bondi said in a statement that the killing of Thompson "was a premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America."
After careful consideration, I have directed federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty in this case as we carry out President [Donald] Trump's agenda to stop violent crime and Make America Safe Again," Bondi wrote.
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Bondi's statement called the killing of Thompson "an act of political violence," and further alleges that "Mangione's actions involved substantial planning and premeditation and because the murder took place in public with bystanders nearby, may have posed grave risk of death to additional persons."
Mangione has yet to enter a plea on the federal charges, including murder through the use of a firearm, which would make him eligible for the death penalty if convicted.
He has pleaded not guilty to all state charges against him, and his legal team confirmed he consents to a preliminary hearing under the Speedy Trial Act. The hearing is set for April 18.
The death penalty move by Bondi "political" and said it "goes against the recommendation of the local federal prosecutors, the law, and historical precedent," Mangione's lead attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo said in a statement shared with UPI.
"While claiming to protect against murder, the federal government moves to commit the premeditated, state-sponsored murder of Luigi," Agnifilo said. "By doing this, they are defending the broken, immoral and murderous healthcare industry that continues to terrorize the American people."
She promised to fight the federal charges and those filed against Mangione by state prosecutors in New York and Pennsylvania.
"This is a corrupt web of government dysfunction and one-upmanship," Agnifilo said. "Luigi is caught in a high-stakes game of tug-of-war between state and federal prosecutors, except the trophy is a young man's life."
