Lemmy’s not gonna like what I have to say, but jury nullification is simply not going to happen here. It will require the entire jury to agree, and as popular as this POV is here on Lemmy, I sincerely doubt you will be able to sneak 12 NYC jurors through jury selection that are inclined to do this. Maybe for some other non-violent crime, but not for walking up to a man in front of the Hilton and shooting him dead, no matter what his rationale is. They all walk down Sixth Avenue regularly, they’re not gonna all agree to hold this guy unaccountable for murder in broad daylight. (Particularly when they all mocked Trump for saying he could get away with it, one avenue over.)
Now, it is possible that one person might sneak on the jury who finds that Mangione is a sympathetic figure, and insists on not convicting him. But that is a different situation. When the jury is at a fundamental impasse and can’t agree on any verdict (a hung jury) the judge will order a new trial and they do it all over again. And, it’s also possible for Mangione to get let off entirely if the prosecutors are morons and make fundamental errors. (Case in point: Trump’s Georgia trial, where Trump managed to run out the clock due to the prosecution’s unforced errors). But if the evidence is really there, I really doubt 12 New Yorkers will agree and say “Yeah, he did it, but shouldn’t be punished for it”.
They already have been describing migrants as an “invasion force”, and describing male migrants in their 20’s as “military-age”…