Our recent spate of violent crimes committed in the name of “social justice” set up the possibility that those on the far-left in this country may have to defend their beliefs and expressions of support for some pretty untenable positions. That would be especially true if the man that gunned down a health insurance CEO in New York City, the man that fire-bombed the Jewish Pennsylvania governor’s residence, the man that shot and killed two Israeli embassy employees in Washington, DC, and the man in Boulder, Colorado that set on fire marchers demanding that Hamas release the Israeli hostages they’ve been holding for more than a year all decide on insanity defenses.
While I’m not a lawyer, that would be my recommendation to Luigi Mangione, Cody Balmer, Elias Rodriguez, and Mohamed Soliman: claim that you not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect–and then take the stand to prove it. I can already tell you what the opening arguments in the Mangione sanity trial should be:
“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, my client sincerely believes that he is the victim of a multi-national, capitalistic conspiracy involving every medical system in America, every health insurance company, every nurse, every doctor, all of the drug makers in the world, and politicians bought off by all of those entities to keep him and every other person in the United States sick and in pain as often and as long as possible to produce the greatest amount of profit for themselves.
“My client also believes that the world is controlled by a few, mega-rich oligarchs that use secret forms of communications to plot their strategies for global domination. He hears voices in his head that tell him to ‘Tax the Rich’, ‘Kill the Rich’, even “Eat the Rich’. He claims to see those very phrases and commands on signs held by people along the street and in the parks, coming from politicians and people being interviewed on news programs, and even on dresses at the Met Gala.
“My client truly believed that in taking the life of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson he would become something of a hero in an anti-capitalist revolution and that people who suffer from the same psychological conditions would rally behind him–even going so far as to give him money for a legal defense, and demanding that he be released from police custody without even being charged with a crime–since he was actually acting in the name of “justice”–albeit “social justice”–for the victims of the vast conspiracy theories to which he subscribes”.
My opening statements for Balmer, Rodriguez, and Soliman would be similar:
“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, my client is convinced that members of a certain global sect conspire to discriminate and enslave members of other global sects. He believes that these oppressors–known commonly as “Jews”–control large swaths of society, including banking, entertainment, and the media–and that they unduly influence elected members of governments through money to do their bidding.
“My client believes that the country established by international agreement after efforts were made by real fascists to eradicate Judaism from the entire world was in itself an act of “terrorism” and that actions actually constituting terrorism are thereby justified against it. He believes non-Jewish people must take action to eliminate the only elected democratic country in what is known as the Middle East so as to “reinstate” a nation that never actually existed.
“In his deluded state, my client holds the families of those killed or kidnapped in attacks in Israel on October 7th, 2023 responsible for their own fates–and seeks no accountability on the part of the internationally-recognized terrorist group that perpetrated those actions. He even believes that members of the LGBTQ+ communities of the West–who would be put to death by the Hamas group currently at war with Israel–would support the terrorists and call for them to be granted control over a land and fellow queer people that have actually enjoyed equal rights under Israeli law.
“My client believes that he is a lead soldier in an international war against Jews. He even hears in his head marching orders like “Free, Free Palestine” and “Globalize the Intifada”–swearing that he has seen the phrases and commands on signs held by people along the street and in the parks, coming from politicians and people being interviewed on news programs, and even written on celebrities bodies while they accept awards for their work.”
Needless to say, mounting such a defense would put prosecutors–elected in some of the most liberal parts of the US, or appointed to federal positions by Presidents Obama and Biden–in rather awkward positions. Who should you call to the stand to refute the assertion that only insane people would hold these beliefs?
In the case of Luigi Mangione, would you call Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren along with Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to the stand to defend the theory of healthcare collusion? Do you let them bring photos of CEO’s and corporate logos to put up on the walls of the courtroom with pushpins and miles of string to help “connect the dots” for the jury? Do you let them testify that if we had just taken quadrillions of dollars away from the American people to make everything “free” Mangione would have had no cause to kill Brian Thompson? How many thousands of rebuttal witnesses could the state of New York call upon to testify about the “ailments” that no doctor anywhere has been able to diagnose, but that they swear prevents them from keeping a job–and can only be treated by smoking marijuana…all the time.
In the trials of Balmer, Rodriguez, and Soliman do you bring in Representatives Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib to testify that the vast majority of the other members of Congress are secretly controlled by Jewish groups? (Ironically, Bernie and AOC could be called in for these trials too, given statements they have made on the public record.) Do you make it a bi-partisan defense by calling Representatives Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor-Green to the stand to assert that Jews control the weather and have secret “space lasers” that start massive wildfires around the planet? Should you call in the Columbia University protest guy, Mohsen Mahdawi, to explain why the fight against Israel must target all “Zionists” no matter where they live? And do you let everyone cosplay by wearing the black and white keffiyeh on their heads or shoulders to really bring the look together? Why not have the leaders of Hamas video conference in from their safe haven in Qatar to explain why they will trade the complete destruction of Gaza for continued protection from international prosecution for acts of terrorism and crimes against humanity…I mean “freedom for Palestine”?
I will admit, there is a bit of a risk encouraging this type of defense. Those watching coverage of the trials with the same psychological conditions may be inspired to take the same actions. That is what we in the media are told all the time about covering those involved in school shootings–if you let everyone know why a kid shot a bunch of other kids, it will just lead to more school shootings. But I would argue that the Nuremberg trials of the Nazis after World War II disproved that notion. Everyone of those held to account for the atrocities of that regime took no personal responsibility for the actions of their followers and most defended their beliefs to the moment when the death penalties were administered.
But when the insanity and depravity of those men were put on display for the entire world to see, it certainly didn’t create a new generation of adherents…..well, until recently.
