Luigi Mangione pans prosecutors for linking him to NYC mass shooter Shane Tamura

MANHATTAN (CN) — Luigi Mangione on Friday lambasted federal prosecutors for likening him to New York City mass shooter Shane Tamura, claiming that the move was “an attempt to prejudice potential jurors.”

Mangione, accused of shooting and killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, is seeking more information from the Justice Department on why it is pursuing the death penalty. Prosecutors say they’ve already outlined his alleged premeditation and future dangerousness, citing in a filing last week a link between him and Tamura’s July 28 mass killing.

Mangione called that comparison “most alarmin[g]” in his Friday docket entry.

“In an attempt to prejudice potential jurors and thereby Mr. Mangione’s right to a fair trial, the government, in its opposition brief, attempts to link him to other recent killings, including the recent murder of four people in Manhattan by Shane Tamura,” Mangione claims in the 10-page filing.

In their bid to prove Mangione’s dangerousness — and quash his plea for more info — prosecutors argue that Tamura left evidence at the crime scene in a similar fashion to Mangione.

“Like Mangione, Tamura left behind a piece of evidence for investigators to find, blaming the NFL and football for causing chronic traumatic encephalopathy,” they wrote in the document. “Almost immediately, members of the public sympathetic to [Mangione] touted Tamura’s actions as a laudable continuation of the defendant’s philosophy.”

Prosecutors compared the note found in Tamura’s pocket following the shooting, which claimed that he suffered from CTE from high school football and encouraged scientists to study his brain, to the messages they claim Mangione left on bullet casings at the scene of Thompson’s murder.

“In preparing for the crime, the defendant took the time to write the words ‘Deny,’ ‘Depose,’ and ‘Delay’ on the bullets he used — two of which were recovered at the scene of the murder as shell casings (because the bullets had been fired) and one of which was recovered as a live round,” they wrote.

But Mangione insisted on Friday that “the government is well-aware that there is absolutely no link between Mr. Mangione at Mr. Tamura and there is no evidence that Mr. Tamura was influenced in any way by the murder of Mr. Thompson.”

“The government’s attempt to link Mr. Mangione to the likes of Shane Tamura without any evidence is further proof of the political nature of the tragically unfortunate decision to seek to execute Mr. Mangione,” he added.

And it’s certainly no justification for prosecutors not giving him an outline to back up their death penalty arguments, Mangione claims, noting that their stated arguments thus far are insufficient. One of them is prosecutors’ claim that the crime caused “grave risk of death to additional persons,” on account of the murder taking place on a “public street in midtown Manhattan.”

“Under this logic, the government is suggesting that every shooting on the streets of Manhattan would satisfy this statutory factor which fails to narrow the type of cases in which the death penalty would be appropriate,” Mangione says, asking a federal judge to order an “informational outline” on prosecutors’ death penalty arguments.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced in April the Justice Department would seek capital punishment for Mangione, more than two weeks before a federal grand jury indicted him, as part of Trump’s broader push to “make America safe again.”

Mangione had already drawn public sympathy, fueled by his looks and Americans’ distrust of health insurers, but support surged after Bondi’s announcement, with big donations flowing to his defense fund.

He is charged federally with two counts of stalking, a firearms offense and murder with a firearm. He also faces charges in the New York Supreme Court, including first-degree murder as an act of terrorism, which his defense team says conflicts with the federal case.

As it stands, the cases are running concurrently. Mangione is due back in court on Sept. 16 for an appearance in his state case.

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