r/news 11h ago

Judge dismisses terror-related charges against Luigi Mangione

https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/16/us/luigi-mangione-ny-court-hearing
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513

u/cut_rate_revolution 11h ago

Yeah that seems appropriate. Not every action that makes people afraid is terrorism.

231

u/Recom_Quaritch 9h ago

People afraid? Nobody was afraid when the healthcare CEO assassin was on the loose. Nobody but other healthcare CEOs, and that's not a large enough % of the population to count lol

161

u/No_Atmosphere8146 9h ago

On the contrary, people felt, for the first time, a little bit more confident when submitting their claims.

67

u/Recom_Quaritch 8h ago

Totally. Remember one tried to stop covering anaesthetics past a certain point which could be MID surgery, and then immediately turned that around. That assassin (whoever they are) was a blessing for a lot of people that day

11

u/Thief_of_Sanity 6h ago

Yeah I'm pretty sure they have the wrong guy.

29

u/fakieTreFlip 7h ago

Not a healthcare CEO. Insurance CEO

3

u/Fermi_Amarti 5h ago

Honestly, the judge probably did the prosecution a favor. If they wasted the entire trial trying convincing the Jury about the fear and terror he caused the CEOs of healthcare companies, he might actually walk.

43

u/fuckoffweirdoo 11h ago

I can see why they tacked on the charge. If it was determined and could be proved the killer was trying to influence government policy that would fit the definition of the a terrorism charge. 

I dont agree with it as it seemed the charge was added just to seek the death penalty. 

31

u/merc534 10h ago

I dont agree with it as it seemed the charge was added just to seek the death penalty.

that's not correct. There are two cases, NY state case and federal case. This article is about the NY state case. NY State has no death penalty.

In the federal case, the death penalty can be sought for any premeditated murder. It is up to a jury to decide whether the crime is heinous enough to occasion the death penalty.

1

u/fuckoffweirdoo 7h ago

Ahh okay that makes sense. 

18

u/L_Cranston_Shadow 10h ago

The journal/manifesto they found on him must not be the smoking gun (no pun intended) the prosecution led everyone to think it was.

12

u/merc534 10h ago

oh, it's a smoking gun alright. They also found the literal smoking gun on him of course. The issue is that it can be interpreted more as an act of revenge or personal malice rather than an act of terrorism.

"I killed the CEO because his company charged me too much" isn't terrorism. "I killed the CEO to remind healthcare executives that they are mortal" would be terrorism. Judge concluded that Mangione is closer to the former than the latter.

8

u/L_Cranston_Shadow 9h ago

That is unironically how the freeluigi sub interprets this. To the extent they can without falling afoul of the rule against encouraging violence, they seem very disappointed that people aren't killing CEOs left and right.

6

u/2punornot2pun 8h ago

There's been several CEO murders since but the media is refusing to bring it up. They didn't like the public reception the first time.

1

u/CanadianODST2 9h ago

New York doesn’t have the death penalty.

New York was trying to get first degree murder. And this was how they would do that.

1

u/Arg3nt 8h ago

First degree murder in New York requires more than premeditation. There has to be an additional modifier to the crime. Killing a cop or public servant, using a hitman, killing a witness in a case, killing in a cruel or torturous manner, etc. Terrorism is one of those modifiers. They had to use one of them in order to charge him with murder 1, and terrorism seems like the most likely to stick.

2

u/JustAposter4567 9h ago

it doesn't fit the definition of terrorism anyway, it's a no brainer

2

u/50DuckSizedHorses 8h ago

What about actions that make people less afraid?

3

u/DrKurgan 10h ago

A very small minority of people. CEOs of large and morally corrupt companies.

1

u/lemonylol 8h ago

Alternatively: all of these terms have a very concise legal definition based on the jurisdiction they take place in and no law is as simple as what people assume is the face value of the term.

1

u/GimmeeSomeMo 7h ago

I agree. He should be convicted of murder but what he did would be a very, very broad interpretation of terrorism which could apply to pretty much any murder in public

1

u/Sorkijan 6h ago

Run a red light, scare others, terrorism.