When Luigi Mangione allegedly shot and killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, many on the Left attempted to justify the shooting.
Earlier today, a judge threw out terrorism charges against Mangione, leaving 2nd-degree murder charges, as our Dmitri Bolt explained:
The decision means Mangione will not be tried as a terrorist. He still faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life, but unlike before, he will now be eligible for parole. With the terrorism charges intact, he would have faced the same sentence without the possibility of parole.
Mangione still faces both federal and state murder charges. The federal indictment includes “murder through the use of a firearm” and stalking counts that could bring a death sentence if convicted. Attorney General Pam Bondi stated she would pursue the death penalty for what she described as "a premeditated, cold-blooded assassination." Mangione has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The reasoning behind the decision to drop the terrorism charges is, frankly, eye-opening and alarming:
This is the judge’s reasoning for dropping Luigi Mangione’s charge down to only 2nd degree murder.
— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) September 16, 2025
Absolute insanity. Our judicial system is completely cooked. pic.twitter.com/hqSl8iJbKJ
Noting that the terrorism charges brought against Mangione involve proving the defendant intended to “intimidate or coerce a civilian population,” Carro wrote that he didn’t think the state Legislature “intended the employees of a company, however large, to constitute a ‘civilian population’ within the meaning of the statute.” The judge went on to write that even if he were to find the employees constituted such a population, “there was no evidence presented that defendant’s conscious objective or intent was to intimidate or coerce the employees of United Healthcare.”
Rather, the judge wrote, Mangione’s apparent objective was “to draw attention to what he perceived as the greed of the insurance industry” and “as an additional possible consequence, to negatively affect the financials of the company.” The judge wrote that Bragg’s office “presented sufficient evidence that the defendant murdered Brian Thompson in a premeditated and calculated execution. That does not mean, however, that the defendant did so with terroristic intent.”
The irony of the timing of these dropped charges, less than a week after the assassination of Charlie Kirk, coupled with the judge's reasoning behind the decision, should not be lost on any of us. We have seen the Left mock and celebrate Kirk's death, saying he "deserved" it for the political positions he held -- positions held by a majority of Americans. Politicians and media pundits accused Kirk of "spewing hatred" and being racist, sexist, and homophobic. He was none of those things, of course, but the Left used those smears to justify violence.
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Gee, doesn't that sound familiar? It should, because it ties directly back to the Mangione case.
After Mangione allegedly killed Thompson in December of last year, the Left justified the shooting by attacking insurance companies and their "greed."
Former Washington Post reporter Taylor Lorenz told her followers on BlueSky, "I hope people learn the names of all of these insurance company CEOs and engage in very peaceful letter writing campaigns so that they stop ruthlessly murdering thousands of innocent Americans by denying coverage. Healthcare is a right. We need universal healthcare now." She followed up on her fangirling in an interview with CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan, saying of the suspected killer, “Here’s this man who, who’s a revolutionary, who’s famous, who’s handsome, who’s young, who’s smart — he’s a person that seems like a morally good man, which is hard to find."
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) also justified the shooting, saying, "This is not to say that an act of violence is justified, but I think for anyone who is confused or shocked or appalled, they need to understand that people interpret and feel & experience denied claims as an act of violence."
Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) said something similar, "Violence is never the answer. This guy gets a trial who’s allegedly killed the CEO of UnitedHealth. But you can only push people so far. And then they start to take matters into their own hands," and Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said "shooting someone in the back is totally unacceptable but..." health insurance industry "denies people healthcare that the desperately need while they make billion and billions of dollars in profit."
If those statements weren't enough, there's plenty of video documenting the glee of Mangione supporters at the news he won't face terrorism charges. They applauded this news, dressed in Luigi hats, and cheered that he will be eligible for parole.
Unhinged leftists are glorifying assassin Luigi Mangione for murdering an innocent CEO outside.
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) September 16, 2025
Mangione supporter: "I think they framed him as a patsy... I think they said, 'Hey, here's a kid with good teeth and nice hair. Looks like that guy in the camera. Let's string him… pic.twitter.com/VpWEVp3bRK
At a time when Democrats are demanding Republicans "turn down the temperature" and police their political rhetoric, it is Democrats from all walks of life who are making it explicitly clear they wholeheartedly endorse political violence in the name of their pet political causes.
Such rhetoric and behavior should give all of us pause.
