DOJ defends seeking death penalty for Luigi Mangione in new court filing

Federal prosecutors said late Friday that public comments by members of the Trump administration should not prevent the government from pursuing its case against Luigi Mangione

Federal prosecutors said late Friday that public comments by members of the Trump administration should not prevent the government from pursuing its case against Luigi Mangione.

In a 121-page court filing, Justice Department prosecutors said comments and social media posts from Attorney General Pam Bondi, DOJ officials and the president should not forbid them from seeking the death penalty in Mangione’s case or warrant the dismissal of his charges.

“Pretrial publicity, even when intense, is not itself a constitutional defect,” prosecutors wrote.

Mangione, 27, is accused of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, 50, on the streets of midtown Manhattan last December. He was charged with two federal counts of stalking, one count of murder through the use of a firearm, and one count of a firearms offense.

He pleaded not guilty to the federal charges against him, as well as charges in pending state cases in New York and Pennsylvania in connection with Thompson’s killing.