(Headline USA) Daniel Penny, the U.S. Marine veteran who used a fatal chokehold to neutralize a violent and mentally deranged homeless man on the New York City subway, turned himself in Friday as authorities charged him with manslaughter nearly two weeks after the encounter.
Penny, 24, arrived at a police station and was later taken to a courthouse where he is expected to answer to criminal charges in the May 1 death of Jordan Neely.
The decision by woke Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg to file the charge came after days of public protest by George-Soros-backed activist groups who sought to turn Neely into the next George Floyd after video of the incident surfaced online.
But Penny’s arrest was unlikely to placate the protesters, according to Jawanza Williams, organizing director of the group Voices of Community Activists and Leaders New York.
“Just arresting this person—though I think accountability is absolutely necessary—it will not solve the critical structural failings that lead to the 70,000+ people experiencing homelessness every single night in our city, and it will not have saved this person’s life,” Williams said.
STATEMENT: #JordanNeely's murder is "a direct result of the sustained political, systemic abandonment of people experiencing homelessness & mental health complexities, fueled by press coverage that clearly influences policies & emboldens vigilantes."
https://t.co/NqxTshulR3 pic.twitter.com/GwwWOpGsoO
— VOCAL-NY (@VOCALNewYork) May 3, 2023
Penny didn’t speak to reporters as he arrived at a Manhattan police station with his lawyers Friday morning, nor did he respond to questions shouted by reporters as he was led from the police precinct house in handcuffs several hours later.
Penny’s lawyers have said he was acting in self-defense when he pinned Neely to the floor of the subway car with the help of two other passengers and held him in a chokehold for several minutes.
A freelance journalist who recorded Neely struggling to free himself, then lapsing into unconsciousness, said he had been shouting at passengers and begging for money aboard the train but had not gotten physical with anyone.
However, it was later revealed that Neely had a history of violent encounters with innocent bystanders, including footage that showed him aggressively threatening an elderly man and violently shoving a woman into a subway train.
I wonder what AOC would say about this footage of Jordan Neely fighting people and pushing this innocent white woman onto the side of the subway… pic.twitter.com/K0faHzaFsf
— Julio Casasola (@juliuscesar79) May 5, 2023
Neely also allegedly attempted to kidnap a young girl and had been arrested 44 times.
In 2015, Jordan Neely kidnapped a 7 year old girl
In 2019, Jordan Neely punched a 64 year old man in the face.
In 2021, Jordan Neely slugged a 67 year old woman in the face as she exited the subway, breaking her nose and fracturing her orbital bone.
Neely was arrested 44…
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) May 5, 2023
Penny’s lawyers have said he was “threatening” passengers but haven’t elaborated.
Thomas Kenniff, one of Penny’s attorneys, said the veteran didn’t mean to harm Neely and “is dealing with the situation, like I said, with the sort of integrity and honor that is characteristic of who he is and characteristic of his honorable service in the United States Marine Corps.”
Donte Mills, a lawyer for Neely’s family, said that even before he was subdued, Neely was a victim of bystanders’ callous indifference toward his struggles.
“No one on that train asked Jordan: ‘What’s wrong, how can I help you?’” Mills said.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office had investigated the case for several days before deciding to file charges, in part to try to learn what happened aboard the train in the moments before Penny moved to restrain Neely. Prosecutors did not immediately explain why they decided criminal charges were warranted.
A second-degree manslaughter charge in New York will require the jury to find that a person has engaged in reckless conduct that creates an unjustifiable risk of death, and then consciously disregards that risk.
The law also requires that conduct to be a gross deviation from how a reasonable person would act in a similar situation.
The charges could carry a maximum penalty of 15 years imprisonment, though any jail term could also be far shorter.
Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press
