Breaking news:Is CEO shooting suspect Luigi Mangione a terrorist? Charges may ‘send a message.’

When a New York grand jury indicted Luigi Mangione, the man accused of gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson earlier this month, for murder as an act of terrorism, the move raised some experts’ eyebrows.

Mangione, 26, was charged with one count of first-degree murder in furtherance of terrorism, two counts of second-degree murder, one of which was charged as an act of terrorism, and a slew of weapons charges. He also faced new federal charges in a Thursday afternoon court appearance.

The New York charges from a grand jury stem from “the brazen, targeted and premeditated shooting of Brian Thompson,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said at a news conference earlier this week.

Bragg alleged the shooting “in its most basic terms, was a killing that was intended to evoke terror.”

The first-degree charge is unusual in New York, legal experts have said, and may be hard to prove in court because it requires evidence about motive. But Mangione’s alleged actions fit the terrorism statute, and the charge is important to send a message to the public that violence is not a solution to ideological disputes, argued Barbara McQuade, a Michigan Law professor and former U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan.

“There are people out there treating this guy as a hero. I think it is important to send a message that he is not a hero. He is not just a murderer; he’s a terrorist, allegedly,” McQuade told USA TODAY on Thursday.

The charge against Mangione is unorthodox, McQuade said, because the alleged crime doesn’t fit into the usual boxes we imagine when we hear terrorism.

“When we think of terrorism, we think of a designated foreign terrorist organization like al-Qaeda or Hezbollah… or we think of the explosion of a building,” she said.

Terrorism is defined under the statute as an act that aims to: