Claim:
A pair of authentic news titles have accurately stated that the US Department of Justice directed prosecution to seek the death penalty for UNITEDHEATHALTHCARE Executive Director, which shoots the suspect of Luigi Magione, while prosecutors who have been the same in Texist at 23 in a racist attack.
Evaluation:
Assessment: True
After News Broke in Early April 2025 The Us Department of Justice Would Direct Prosecutors to Seck the Death Penalty for Luigi Mangione, The S suspect charged with Killing United 2024, A Claim Spread Online Comparing Mangione’s Possible Fate to The Outcome of Another Case: That of Patrick Crusius, Who Killed 23 People and Injured 22 More ATS El 2019
Social media users specifically distribute an image showing two news titles side by side. One, supposedly by MSNBC News, was “DOJ directs prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Luigi Magione.” The second title is claimed to be CNN and he reads: “The shooter, who killed 23 in a racist attack in Texas Walmart, proposed a legal basis to avoid the death penalty.”
Screen photos of the pair titles spread on platforms such as Instagram, Reddit and Bluesky. Some social media users have suggested that the comparison is the reason to call for reform of criminal justice or to completely eliminate the present system.
Image titles were authentic titles from MSNBC and CNN. In addition, the information in the two titles was accurate: the federal prosecutors were during the present writing, seeking the death penalty for the 26-year-old Magione, until prosecutors would seek the death penalty for Crussius, also 26. Thus, we appreciate this claim true.
US Prosecutor General Pam Bondi said in a statement on April 1 that it has directed federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Manyone, as “murder is an act of political violence” and “can pose a serious risk of death of additional persons” as the shooting was held in public.
Federal prosecutors who accused and condemned Cruise, a white supreme, under the laws of hatred crimes in 2023, did not provide any justification why they chose not to seek the death penalty. In 2025, the District Attorney of the County El Paso James Montoya said he had chosen not to seek the death penalty for Cruziy according to the wishes of most victims’ families – a detail that a family member publicly contradicts the opinion of the news outcome El Passo questions.
Snopes also checked the related claim comparing the potential death sentence of Manyone with the sentences handed over to convicted school shooters.
Both cases
The history of MSNBC of April 1, 2025 is here. As the screen showed on social media, the title is “DOJ directs prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Luigi Magione”. This information in the title was correct; Bondi released a statement on the same day through the Ministry of Justice Public Affairs Office. The corresponding part of the statement that can be read online here is below (the accent of ours):
The murder of Luigi Magyone by Brian Thompson-Unwinned Man and the father of two young children-a deliberate, cold-blooded murder that shocked America. After careful consideration, I directed federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty in this case As we hold President Trump’s agenda to stop violence and make America again safe.
The history of CNN of March 25, 2025 was a syndicated piece, originally by the Associated Press, and its versions appear in various publications under different titles. Still, the title, which appeared on CNN’s page, actually read: “The Sagittarius, who killed 23 in a racist attack in Texas Walmart, proposed an agreement on a legal basis to avoid the death penalty.”
The information in the CNN title was also correct. El Paso County District Prosecutor James Montoya, a prosecutor in the Texas case, announced the decision of his service not to seek the death penalty on the same day of a press conference:
The first thing I wanted to do was confirm that in this case our office expanded the defendant’s proposal to plead guilty of murder and sentence without conditional release and complete refusal of all his appellate rights In return for us we no longer pursue – dropping out – the death penalty in this case.
Montoya told reporters that although he personally believes that Crussius should receive the death penalty, seeking that the sentence would extend the process and oppose the wishes of most families and survived the victims. “I could not continue to continue to seek the death penalty against the wishes of so many other people,” he said (see 6:40). He also admitted that some families still want him to seek the death penalty. (A family member who believed that the sentence should be left to the jurors, wrote an OP-ED, calling for Montoya’s information information to the families “limited at best.”
The full video of the press conference is available on the texas CBS website.
Federal prosecutors also chose not to seek the death penalty for Crussius; They announced this decision on January 17, 2023 when submitting a sentence that did not explain. The state case for various reasons Montoya mentions at the press conference, moved more slowly than the federal case, which ended in July 2023.
Later, the Ministry of Justice has released a statement that reports that the federal judge has sentenced Crussius to 90 consecutive life sentences for shooting the laws on hate and firearms.
The administration of former US president Joe Biden, who was in service during the federal process, seems to have not given any explanation for the decision not to pursue the death penalty in the Crusius case of reporters at the time. In the past, Biden opposed the death penalty.
Sources:
Associated Press. “The Sagittarius, who killed 23 in a racist attack in Texas Walmart, proposed an agreement on a legal basis to avoid the death penalty.” CnnMarch 25, 2025, www.cnn.com/2025/03/25/US/patrick-crusius-lea-deal-el-paso-walmart/index.html. Access to 4 April 2025
“Prosecutor General Pamela Bondi directs prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Luigi Magione.” Justice.govApril 1, 2025, www.justice.gov/opa/Pr/attorney-general-pamela-bondi-directs-prosecutors-seek-death-luigi-mangione. Access to 4 April 2025
Blaberg, Jake and Michael Tarr. “The United States will not seek the death penalty for the alleged texas arms shooter Walmart.” Associated PressJanuary 17, 2023, apnews.com/article/el-paso-capital-punishing-hate- Crimes-Afddd0e17BB68D2FC3A5B1DC096E514. Access to 4 April 2025
Day, Grace. “Biden did not pardon the killers of death. He gave them life in prison.” BundleSnopes.com, January 28, 2025, www.snopes.com/news/2025/01/29/biden-drison-pardon-death-row/. Access to 4 April 2025
Esposito, Joey. “At least 4 school shooters sentenced to death since 1940 but has not yet been executed.” BundleSnopes.com, April 4, 2025, www.snopes.com/face-check/school-shooters-death-peenalty/. Access to 4 April 2025
“Federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Luigi Magione in the murder of UNITEDHEATHALCAR CEO.” AP NewsApril 1, 2025, https://apnews.com/article/unitedhealthcare-ce-cilling-luigi-luigi-NYC-29DBA97034D4FA81822F481D08CF2842.
Kfox, Erika Esquivel. “Families influence the choice of DA’s legal basis, saving Walmart shooter from the death penalty.” KdbcMarch 25, 2025, CBS4Local.com/newsletter-daily/da-families-of-walmart-shooting-Victims-divide-on-death-Majority-seek-closure?photo=3. Access to 4 April 2025
Margaret, Leachman. “In the District Court of the United States for the Western District of Texas El Paso.” The step of the questionsJanuary 17, 2023, Elpasomatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/death-Penalty-document.pdf. Access to 4 April 2025
Moore, Robert, et al. “Feders will not seek the death penalty against Walmart’s alleged shooter.” The step of the questionsJanuary 17, 2023, elpasomatters.org/2023/01/17/crucius-wont–face-death-peathy-in-fideral-hate-crime-carges/. Access to 4 April 2025
MSNBC. “Doj directs prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Luigi Magione.” Msnbc.comMSNBC, April 1, 2025, www.msnbc.com/jose-diaz-balart/watch/doj-directs-prosecutors- to-seek-death-for-luigi-mangion-235976261626162616261. Access to 4 April 2025
Romero, Carla. “Opinion: I lost my mother in Walmart’s mass shooting. Yes James Montoya let us go.” The step of the questionsS Access to 4 April 2025
Stengle, Jamie. “El Paso Walmart Sagittarius, who killed 23, proposed a legal basis agreement to avoid the death penalty.” AP NewsMarch 25, 2025, apnews.com/article/el-paso-walmart-shooting-texas-death-peathy-d47db8f41f49894747a36907CB23269. Access to 4 April 2025
The US Department of Justice. “The Texas man sentenced to 90 consecutive life sentences for mass shooting in 2019 in Walmart in El Paso, Texas, killing 23 people and wounds 22 others.” Justice.govJuly 7, 2023, www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/texas-man-tennced-90-consecutive-life-tenncs-2019-mass-shoting-elmart-el-paso-texas. Access to 4 April 2025