It is an "inappropriate overreach" for federal officials to file additional charges against Luigi Mangione, the suspect in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, retired Judge Andrew Napolitano, the senior judicial analyst for Newsmax, said Friday.
"This is an old-fashioned, forgive me, classic, first-degree murder," said Napolitano on Newsmax's "Wake Up America," explaining that Mangioni is accused of following Thompson and waiting for him before firing shots.
"It's horrific, but it has nothing to do with the Constitution and nothing to do with the federal government," said Napolitano. "If the feds can federalize every single street crime, then we don't have a federalist system in America where the states are in charge of public safety and the feds are in charge of national issues. There is no national issue here involved, no federal issue involved in the execution of this CEO."
Thursday, federal prosecutors unsealed a criminal complaint against Mangione, 26, that included one count of using a firearm to commit murder, a charge that included a potential death sentence. He was also charged with two counts of stalking and a firearms offense, reports The New York Times.
Meanwhile, a New York grand jury has indicted Mangione on 11 counts that include first-degree murder and murder as an act of terrorism.
Napolitano said he is not sure if the charges will remain after President-elect Donald Trump takes office, as a replacement will be confirmed for current U.S. Attorney Breon Peace, who announced this week that he plans to step down on Jan. 10, before Trump takes office.
Deputy U.S. Attorney Carolyn Pokorny will serve as acting U.S. attorney until Peace's successor under Trump is confirmed, reports Reuters.
Napolitano insisted that the decision to charge Mangioni with federal counts was made by "professional prosecutors."
Meanwhile, Mangioni has not been indicted by a federal grand jury, but was arrested based on a "complaint signed by an FBI agent that has to mature into an indictment," said Napolitano.
"Once the indictment is filed, then Mangione's lawyer will make the arguments to a federal judge that I have just summarized to you in an effort to get those charges thrown out," he said. "She has her hands full on the state case. Her only viable defense, as I can see, is insanity because the evidence of his guilt is a tape of him doing it. The evidence of his guilt is overwhelming."
Meanwhile, Napolitano said the show of force to bring Mangione into New York City Thursday, where he was flown in by helicopter and surrounded by dozens of heavily armed local and federal officers, was a "circus."
"It was entirely unnecessary," said Napolitano. "The government puts on these shows of force because God forbid, they don't want something to happen. What this kid did in broad daylight could have been done to him had not the government adequately and aggressively protected him."
New York City Mayor Eric Adams was also present, but Napolitano questioned why he would have been there.
"They actually pushed him aside because there was no reason for him there," he said. "Then when the entourage surrounding Luigi moved from the helicopter to the van, they pushed the mayor out of the way."
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