Attorney General Pam Bondi announced today that she has instructed acting U.S. Attorney for Manhattan, Matthew Podolsky, to pursue the death penalty against Luigi Mangione for the killing of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson. This marks the first time AG Bondi has authorized capital punishment since President Donald Trump took office in January 2025 and signed an executive order calling to "restore" the federal death penalty.

In a statement, Bondi described Mangione’s alleged crime as a "premeditated, cold-blooded assassination" and emphasized that the decision aligns with President Trump’s agenda. Mangione faces both federal and New York state charges, but since New York abolished the death penalty in 2007, the state’s maximum sentence is life without parole. Mangione has pleaded not guilty to the state charges.

The Justice Department has established guidelines for seeking the death penalty, requiring a thorough review of factors to ensure fairness and legal compliance. However, Mangione’s attorney, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, criticized the decision as "political," claiming it disregards the recommendation of local federal prosecutors, legal standards, and historical precedent.

Bondi’s announcement follows her recent memo lifting the moratorium on federal executions—a policy enacted under former AG Merrick Garland. The memo encourages prosecutors to seek the death penalty for murders of law enforcement officers and capital crimes committed by undocumented immigrants, barring significant mitigating circumstances.

The last federal death penalty trial in New York was the 2023 case of Sayfullo Saipov, convicted of killing eight people in a 2017 truck attack on a Manhattan bike path. Despite his guilt being uncontested, the jury did not unanimously agree on execution, resulting in a life sentence without parole.

In January 2024, under Garland, the DOJ sought the death penalty for Payton Gendron, the white supremacist who murdered 10 Black people in a 2022 Buffalo supermarket shooting. This was the only capital case approved during the Biden administration. Gendron, already serving life without parole on state charges, faces a federal trial in September 2025, though his legal team is seeking a venue change and delay, citing incomplete evidence disclosure.

During the final months of Trump’s first term, his administration resumed federal executions after a 17-year hiatus, carrying out 13 between July 2020 and January 2021.