The US Department of Justice said Tuesday it will seek death penalty if the suspect Luigi Mangione, charged in the Dec. 4, 2024, fatal shooting of Brian Thompson, a UnitedHealth (UNH) executive in insurance division, is found guilty.

In a statement, US Attorney General Pamela Bondi said the alleged attack on UnitedHealthcare CEO Thompson by Mangione outside a Manhattan hotel justified the death penalty, describing the crime as "a premeditated, cold-blooded assassination" and an "act of political violence."

Bondi also said that because the shooting took place in public on a sidewalk outside the hotel with bystanders nearby, Mangione "may have posed grave risk of death to additional persons."

Mangione, 26, was charged Dec. 19 on four federal criminal counts, including using a firearm to commit murder, which carries a maximum penalty of death or life in prison, and interstate stalking, which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.

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