Luigi Mangione wants to make sure everyone sees his trial

While awaiting trial for the 2024 killing of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, attorneys for the accused, Luigi Mangione, want to make sure that the coverage surrounding the case is as fair and wide as possible. Challenging some of the public and media restrictions for the proceedings, per People, Mangione’s lawyers request that the whole thing be broadcast live. The filing from July 31 shows Mangione’s team objecting to the court’s exclusion of an open press and public, namely because only 68 journalists are being given access to the trial, and selection of those media figures is in the hands of a private attorney who represents “approximately a dozen legacy media organizations.” They also object to the court’s decision not to reserve an overflow room for press and public, presumably knowing it would be filled with Mangione’s supporters. Mangione’s lawyers argue that they do not mean to challenge the “objectivity or independence of the reporter chosen to cover the trial.” However, they do object to “any process, and certainly one in which we had no involvement, where a small percentage of reporters seeking to cover the proceedings are permitted to do so.” Mangione has a Sixth Amendment right to a “fully public, open and unbiased trial,” they argue.