A judge has dismissed terrorism charges against Luigi Mangione in New York state’s case over the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, but he kept the state’s second-degree murder charges against him.

Judge Gregory Carro ruled Tuesday that although there is no doubt that the killing was not an ordinary street crime, New York law doesn’t consider something terrorism simply because it was motivated by ideology.

The ruling came as Mangione made his first court appearance in the state case since February. The 27-year-old Ivy League graduate has attracted a cult following as a stand-in for frustrations with the health insurance industry after Thompson was fatally shot in Manhattan in December.

AP video shot by Joseph B. Frederick

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