Judge Dismisses Death Penalty Counts Against Mangione

Is this rightful humiliation for an overly vengeful Trump DOJ or a mockery of justice on a technicality?

Published 1 hour ago

Judge Dismisses Death Penalty Counts Against Mangione

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Above: Luigi Mangione in Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City on Dec. 16, 2025. Image credit: Curtis Means-Pool/Getty Images

The Spin

Democratic narrative

The DOJ's death penalty pursuit against Mangione was a politically motivated spectacle that rightfully failed. A federal judge correctly dismissed the charges on legal grounds, finding prosecutors overreached by trying to classify stalking as the required concurrent violent act. Trump's DOJ wanted an execution but couldn't make the law fit their agenda.

The New Republic Intelligencer

Republican narrative

This was premeditated murder caught on camera — a calculated execution with bullets etched with intent. Mangione planned the killing, hunted down his victim and shot him in the back. Dismissing death penalty charges on a technicality when the evidence is this overwhelming makes a mockery of justice. If this doesn't warrant the death penalty, what does?

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