Jury Selection for Luigi Mangione’s Trial Won’t Be Easy

With terrorism charges leveled against Mangione, the alleged United Healthcare shooter has variably struck a chord with Americans wronged by the healthcare system. And the numbers for US citizens who haven’t been negatively affected are narrow, to say the least.

It’s official: Luigi Mangione has been indicted for murder and terrorism.

The 26-year-old suspect, alleged to be the UHC shooter, was charged on Thursday for four federal charges, including murder and weapons charges, as well as for  state charges of first degree murder; second degree murder; first degree murder in furtherance of terrorism; second degree murder in furtherance of terrorism; and eight weapon possession counts. 

The move to charge Mangione for essentially the same crime by both federal and state governments has cued his defense to argue that the move violates the double jeopardy clause, which prevents a suspect from being charged more than once for what should be a single charge.

As a federal murder charge leaves Mangione vulnerable to the death penalty, his attorneys could potentially save his life, if successful.

Some attorneys argue that double jeopardy may not be a factor if each offense charge is pursued with different case elements. Even so, Mangione’s trial may see significant delays due to another factor: jury selection.

There’s no doubt that Mangione has received significant praise and support on social media. From academics pointing out social murder perpetrated by United Healthcare and the healthcare system overall in the United States to users thirsting over him, Luigi Mangione has effectively become a symbol of working-class rage against systemic violence. Even more interestingly, the suspect has incredibly wide appeal with the public, with either strong or lukewarm approval for his actions drawn across generational lines rather than political ones.

Mangione, despite initial profiles of the shooter assuming more leftist tendencies, is, to the contrary, not terribly exceptional or unique in his political leanings. A fan of Peter Thiel and Elon Musk and a reader of Ayn Rand, Mangione is an ivy-league independent centrist who used to be called ‘Squeej’ in his college fraternity. But in this sense, his radicalization against the healthcare industry is indicative of a commonly-held disillusionment with American society.

According to a Gallup poll taken earlier this month, the view of US healthcare quality has declined to a 24-year low. More than 80% of Americans across the political spectrum are dissatisfied with the current healthcare system in the country and less than 30% would describe healthcare coverage as ‘good’ or better. In a poll conducted by Kaiser Family Foundation, one in four respondents said they or a family member in their household had problems paying for health care in the past year.

Aside from Americans following media coverage of the shooting and Mangione’s arrest, Americans with unfavorable views of healthcare in the US may also be excluded from jury selection due to potential bias. Arguably, support for Mangione himself would be significantly easier to account for in finding jurors than factoring for negative perceptions of privatized healthcare overall.

As even a single juror can prevent Mangione from being charged, prosecutors fear the growing prospect of a hung jury as the suspect continues to receive massive public support. GoFundMe previously hosted a fundraiser for Mangione’s legal fees that accrued more than $150,000 before being pulled by the site. The fundraiser was then transferred to platform GiveSendGo, where another $179,000 has been raised at the time of publication.

Some have criticized media coverage less sympathetic to Mangione than Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse, who variably murdered two men at a BLM protest in 2020 after walking into protest zones unobstructed by police while brandishing an assault rifle. Rittenhouse now enjoys a career as an events speaker, most frequently at affairs hosted by conservative nonprofit Turning Point USA.
Mangione is set to be arraigned on state murder charges on Monday, Dec. 23.

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