Previously the reporting on this did not have a political angle and so it was removed from Politics and correctly directed to News.

The charges related to terrorism now give this a political angle.

“Luigi Mangione is accused of first-degree murder, in furtherance of terrorism; second-degree murder, one count of which is charged as killing as an act of terrorism; criminal possession of a weapon and other crimes.”

The terrorism statutes can be found here:

https://criminaldefense.1800nynylaw.com/ny-penal-law-490-25-crime-of-terrorism.html

“The act must be committed with the intent to intimidate or coerce a civilian population or influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion.”

    • WoodScientist@lemmy.world
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      2 years ago

      Nah. I have an out. Insurance CEOs simply aren’t human. The charge should be animal cruelty at the worst. Luigi should get the same criminal penalty as someone would get for stepping on a cockroach. Murder requires the thing you’re destroying to actually be a human being.

      • runiq@feddit.org
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        2 years ago

        That reminds me that you should never make the mistake of anthropomorphizing Larry Ellison

    • Jyek@sh.itjust.works
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      2 years ago

      Nullify the jury. A man can break the letter and spirit of the law if the jury decides he should not be punished for it.

    • Jyek@sh.itjust.works
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      2 years ago

      Jury nullification does not require “grounds”. Jury nullification is a result of the jury’s verdict being final regardless of the details of the trial. It’s also an effect of the fact that you cannot be tried twice for the same crime. The jury is not required to form a verdict strictly on the basis of the trial. The may find the defendant not guilty regardless of actual guilt.

    • adarza@lemmy.ca
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      2 years ago

      nope. not that one.

      there’s two charges, only one with ‘terrorism’ attached.

      • WoodScientist@lemmy.world
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        2 years ago

        Are insurance CEOs really human? Is it even possible to commit murder against one? I think it would be more like killing a flesh-eating parasite. I’m thinking the charge should be animal cruelty at the worst. What kind of criminal penalty would I get if I threw an ant farm in a lake? That’s the kind of punishment Luigi should get.

        • zbyte64@awful.systems
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          2 years ago

          Yo, he’s a piece of shit human that didn’t deserve to play Minecraft. Making him less than human could justify targeting his children or the terrorism charges. This the CEO knew what he was doing was bad for people because he was a human.

  • Kowowow@lemmy.ca
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    2 years ago

    “The act must be committed with the intent to intimidate or coerce a civilian population or influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion.”

    So it’s fine if you use large sums of money but someone goes with the more democratic route of using a gun and suddenly it’s not cool

  • Rapidcreek@lemmy.world
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    2 years ago

    New York Penal Law § 490.25, the crime of terrorism, is one of the most serious criminal offenses in New York State. The statute defines the crime of terrorism as any act that is committed with the intent to intimidate or coerce a civilian population or influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion and that results in one or more of the following: (a) the commission of a specified offense, (b) the causing of a specified injury or death, © the causing of mass destruction or widespread contamination, or (d) the disruption of essential infrastructure.

      • Rapidcreek@lemmy.world
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        2 years ago

        Note the OR between coerceing the public and coerceing government. He coerced the public by murdering on the street. Doesn’t have anything to do with the government.

        • jordanlund@lemmy.worldOPM
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          2 years ago

          Coercing the population to do something about the CEOs, coercing the government to do something about health policy.

          • Rapidcreek@lemmy.world
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            2 years ago

            No. In this case they are arguing that the intent was to frighten people on the street. They spoke about it during the press conference. The insurance companies, health policy, etc will not play a part. In fact, the judge will probably prohibit its mention in a murder trial. That’s a subject for you guys. Anyway, it has nothing to do with politics

            • jordanlund@lemmy.worldOPM
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              2 years ago

              Terrorism is, by definition, a political action. Charging him with terrorism makes it political.

              https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorism

              “Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims.[1]”

              There’s no question that the killing was ideological. I think where the charge has the potential to fall apart is “non-combatant”.

              If you argue that the CEO pushing the rejection of insurance claims is causing death, does that make them a “non-combatant”? 🤔

              Where it becomes a slippery slope is that this is the same excuse the “pro-life” movement uses for the targeted killing of abortion doctors, and they use the same tactics. Doxing, distributing hitlists, etc.

              • Rapidcreek@lemmy.world
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                2 years ago

                It pertains to a New York law above. The legal charge is defined.I would hope a judge would not consider an argument about what it is outside the parameters of what is written in the law.

  • NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zip
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    2 years ago

    As happy as it made everyone with a brain: That was definitely the legal definition of terrorism (if he did it).

    From a quick google, criminal possession of a weapon is because NY has laws against ghost guns (3d printed firearms).

    Don’t get the logic on both first and second degree for blapping the same guy though.

    • WoodScientist@lemmy.world
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      2 years ago

      Eh. I really don’t consider insurance CEOs to be human. If you so thoroughly abandon your own humanity, why should we even legally consider you a human being anymore? As such, I would argue that it’s no more possible to murder an insurance CEO than it’s possible to murder a cardboard box. Hell, at least a cardboard box does some minimal good for the world. Frankly, Thompson’s doing more good for the world as worm food than he ever did as a CEO. I consider the worms feeding on Thompson to be more human than Thompson himself. Does Thompson technically have a family? Sure, but so do the worms.

  • Rentlar@lemmy.ca
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    2 years ago

    Terrorism to bring this to first-degree is very much a stretch in my eyes. The poor civilian CEO population are spooked by one person getting shot.

    • MutilationWave@lemmy.world
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      2 years ago

      The second part of the statue, to cause government action, does seem kind of appropriate. But I highly doubt he thought he could pull that off and it’s going to take a lot more 2nd player characters to get there.

      • Makeitstop@lemmy.world
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        2 years ago

        They aren’t dropping the second degree murder charge, so they don’t necessarily have to meet the higher bar that this sets.

        That said, while they probably want to be able to paint him as a terrorist, that necessarily involves a more detailed look at what he was trying to accomplish, and that might just backfire on the prosecution. It only takes one sympathetic juror to block a guilty verdict.

        • turtle [he/him]@lemm.eedeleted by creator
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          2 years ago

          That said, while they probably want to be able to paint him as a terrorist, that necessarily involves a more detailed look at what he was trying to accomplish, and that might just backfire on the prosecution. It only takes one sympathetic juror to block a guilty verdict.

          This is a really good insight, thanks!

      • xmunk@sh.itjust.works
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        2 years ago

        By the definition of a reasonable person and that’s the definition the prosecution is going to have to meet.

        • krashmo@lemmy.world
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          2 years ago

          I think you’d have a hard time defending your statement if a bearded Muslim man shot the POTUS, which by the definition posted earlier, should not count as terrorism.

    • Zaktor@sopuli.xyz
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      2 years ago

      A lot of very incontrovertible terrorism was in the form of a single very public murder. The difference was that it was against vulnerable groups and the murderers were rarely charged.

    • jordanlund@lemmy.worldOPM
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      2 years ago

      A lot of people consider murdering an abortion doctor to be terrorism. Or lynching an innocent black person… why would this be different?

      Assassination in furtherance of an agenda…

  • gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works
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    2 years ago

    Terror?

    Come the fuck on, Feds New York. Absolutely fucking not. This sparked joy, not terror, in the populace. This was, to be quite frank, the exact opposite of terrorism.

    • JovialMicrobial@lemm.eedeleted by creator
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      2 years ago

      This is the best argument against the terrorism charges. Should we have a fucking parade to show how NOT terrorized we feel?

    • BrianTheeBiscuiteer@lemmy.world
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      2 years ago

      This is like saying a wife killing their abusive husband is an act of terror. Clearly she’s saying she’s not taking the abuse anymore and any man or woman that treats her so poorly would meet a similar end. The perp that killed UnitedHealthcare’s CEO and those cheering him on are saying the same thing – enough abuse. We’re all terrorists because we want CEOs that do real harm to their customers to be held accountable? The current system is completely ill-equipped to even do so much as shame these abusers (i.e. libel and slander laws).

    • Pyr@lemmy.ca
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      2 years ago

      It also makes light of actual terrorists. Perhaps they aren’t all bad after all.

  • Tiefling IRL@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    2 years ago

    Storming the capital or shooting dozens of children are not terrorism, but shooting a CEO who murders thousands is. Got it.

    They’re clearly trying to send a message to scare his supporters