New York, Apr 2: Attorney-General Pam Bondi is seeking the death penalty for Luigi Mangione, who is charged with killing a health insurance CEO, but has emerged as a sort of folk hero in some circles.

Calling the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson “a premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America”, Bondi said, "I have directed federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty in this case”.

She said it was in keeping with “President Trump’s agenda to stop violent crime and Make America Safe Again”.

Bondi described the killing as “an act of political violence”.

Mangione allegedly shot dead Thompson in front of a hotel in the middle of New York in December, driven by opposition to what he considered the way health insurance companies treat their clients.

He is facing murder charges in a federal court, rather than in a New York court because federal prosecutors say he crossed state borders to carry out the crime.

If he had been charged in a New York state court, he would not face the death penalty as the state has abolished it.

In a break from the state party line, New York’s Democrat Mayor Eric Adams said he respected the decision by federal officials to call for the death penalty, saying, “It was a horrific act”.

In a manifesto about the attack, Mangione wrote that healthcare insurance companies have become too powerful and he was the first to face it with “brutal honesty”.

"Frankly, these parasites simply had it coming. A reminder: The US has the #1 most expensive healthcare system in the world, yet we rank roughly #42 in life expectancy”.

The companies “have simply gotten too powerful, and they continue to abuse our country for immense profit", he said.

These statements by the Ivy League-educated computer geek touched a well of grievances among people who have had problems with healthcare insurance companies.

People have been turning up outside courtrooms in a show of support for him.

A legislation dubbed the "Luigi Mangione Access to Health Care Act” seeking to limit the power of insurance companies to deny payments has been proposed for a referendum in California where laws can be enacted through popular vote.

A fund for his legal defence raised $722,000 by the end of last month.

A note that was slipped into a pair of socks sent to him with clothes to wear in the courtroom said, “Know there are thousands of people wishing you luck”, a breach of regulations, according to court officials.

When he turned up in court for a hearing in February, he wore a green sweater.

Outside, his supporters wore green, either by coincidence or by prior arrangement, and prosecutor Joel Seidemann pointed out that his supporters were also wearing green.

(IANS)

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