(Headline USA) Daniel Penny, a military veteran who choked an agitated New York subway rider and was acquitted of homicide this week, has been invited by Vice President-elect JD Vance to join Donald Trump’s suite at the Army-Navy football game on Saturday.
The Marine veteran was cleared of criminally negligent homicide in Jordan Neely ‘s 2023 death. A more serious manslaughter charge was dismissed last week.
Vance said Penny, 26, accepted his invitation to join the president-elect and him at the game.
“Daniel’s a good guy, and New York’s mob district attorney tried to ruin his life for having a backbone,” Vance said in a post on X. “I’m grateful he accepted my invitation and hope he’s able to have fun and appreciate how much his fellow citizens admire his courage.”
Daniel’s a good guy, and New York’s mob district attorney tried to ruin his life for having a backbone.
I’m grateful he accepted my invitation and hope he’s able to have fun and appreciate how much his fellow citizens admire his courage. https://t.co/b4bY0G0EM3
— JD Vance (@JDVance) December 13, 2024
Political figures on the right have defended Penny since he was charged for the death in May 2023.
Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who ran for the GOP presidential nomination and was tapped by Trump last month to lead an effort along with billionaire Elon Musk to cut government spending, donated money to his legal defense fund.
After the acquittal, Penny gave an extensive interview to Fox News and declared he’s “not a confrontational person.”
He told the network that he wouldn’t have been able to live with “the guilt I would have felt if someone did get hurt, if he did do what he was threatening to do.”
“I’ll take a million court appearances and people calling me names and people hating me, just to keep one of those people from getting hurt or killed,” Penny said.
Trump has not referred to the case publicly recently, but last year he told The Messenger that he thought Penny and other people on the subway were “in great danger.”
Vance, who served in the Marine Corps, including in Iraq, said this week that “justice was done in this case” and Penny never should have been prosecuted.
Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press
