Bondi Gets Death Threats For Seeking Mangione Death Penalty

Attorney General Pam Bondi said she has received death threats for instructing the federal government to pursue the death penalty against Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, reports USA Today. Bondi ordered her attorneys to push for capital punishment in Mangione's federal case. Authorities arrested Mangione in Pennsylvania last December, days after Thompson was fatally shot in New York City. Mangione has pleaded not guilty to state murder and terrorism charges. At the federal level, he has been charged s with murder and stalking. Defense attorney, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, said those allegations were brought by a "lawless Justice Department" that is being guided by a "political" decision to pursue the death penalty.

One of President Trump's first executive orders in his second term directed the attorney general to make sure states have the necessary drugs to perform executions via lethal injection. He has also called for the death penalty against people convicted of human trafficking and illegal drug charges. On "Fox News Sunday," Bondi defended the administration's approach to the Mangione case. "If there was ever a death case, this is one," she said. She condemned people who have sympathized with Mangione. Thompson's death last year prompted months of national interest in Mangione driven by both his physical appearance and frustrations with the health care system "I feel like these young people have lost their way," she said. "I was receiving death threats for seeking the death penalty on someone who was charged with an execution of a CEO."