Luigi Mangione is accused of murdering the CEO of the health care

Luigi Mangione has been charged with first-degree murder in the slaying of healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, the New York district attorney announced Tuesday.

Mr. Mangione faces a variety of charges, including first-degree murder and two counts of second-degree murder, one of which describes the killing as an act of “terrorism,” Bragg said.

“The intent was to sow terror,” New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg said, calling the shooting a “frightening, well-planned and targeted murder.”

Mr. Mangione is scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 19 on whether he will be extradited to New York on the charges, although Bragg suggested the suspect may not fight extradition.

“We have indications that the defendant may waive this hearing,” Bragg said.

The extradition hearing is scheduled for the same day as Mr. Mangione’s preliminary hearing on the gun charges in Pennsylvania.

Appearing at a news conference Tuesday afternoon, both Bragg and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch criticized the public to eulogize Mr. Mangione after the Dec. 4 shooting.

“In the nearly two weeks since Mr. Thompson’s murder, we have witnessed a shocking and horrifying celebration of cold-blooded murder,” Tisch said. “We don’t celebrate killing and we don’t glorify killing anybody.”

In addition to murder, the suspect is also charged with weapons and forgery. If convicted of the most serious charges brought against him — first-degree murder and second-degree murder as an act of terrorism — Mr. Mangione could face life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Asked about the specific terrorism charges, Bragg replied that “in its most basic terms, this is murder intended to cause terror.”

Five days after Mr. Thompson, the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare, was shot and killed, Mr. Mangione was arrested at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pa., with a fake ID and a so-called “ghost gun,” the police said.

His lawyer, Thomas Dickey, said he had seen no evidence linking Mr. Mangione’s gun to the crime.

Last week, prosecutors in New York began sharing evidence in their case against Mr. Mangione with a grand jury.

If extradited, the 26-year-old would likely be held at Riker’s Island or another New York prison.

The evidence against Mr. Mangione included positive match of his fingerprints with those found at the crime scene, Commissioner Tisch said.

According to District Attorney Bragg, the suspect arrived in New York on November 24, staying at a Manhattan hostel using a fake ID, before carrying out the attack on Mr Thompson 10 days later.

In addition to the ghost gun – a gun assembled from untraceable parts – and a fake ID, passport and a handwritten document showing “motivation and mindset” were also found on Mr. Mangione when he was arrested, the police said.

He was formally charged in Pennsylvania with forgery, carrying a firearm without a license, tampering with records or identification, possession of instruments of crime and providing false identification to police.

While Mr. Mangione awaits his fate in the New York court system, he remains in maximum security at the Huntingdon State Correctional Institution in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania.

He was denied bail.

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