Protestors Takeover NYC Subway Station To Call For Justice For Jordan Neely
Written by djfrosty on May 8, 2023
Source: Andrew Lichtenstein / Getty / Protestors
Last week Jordan Neely was killed after Daniel Penny put him in a deadly chokehold on an F-line subway. And while we await to see if Penny is charged with homicide, protestors made their voices heard over the weekend and were arrested for doing so.
The Gothamist is reporting that protestors took to the 63rd Street-Lexington Avenue subway station on Saturday evening to call for the arrest of Daniel Penny and justice for Jordan Neely, who was killed on May 1.
Though Neely didn’t physically harm anyone, passengers said he was acting “erratically” and scared them as he stated he was “hungry” and “tired of having nothing.” Ultimately, Daniel Penny felt he was a threat and decided to subdue him with a chokehold that ended the 30-year-old’s life.
While Penny’s lawyer claims self-defense, many feel it wasn’t the marine’s place to take matters into his own hands as Neely wasn’t physically threatening anyone on the train.
Jordan Neely’s Death Sparking Massive Protests
While some are torn on the matter and feel that Penny was a “hero,” others feel he interjected himself into a situation in a way that was unnecessary and consequently deadly. Taking to the subway to make their voices heard, protestors flooded the 63rd Street subway station platform and even stood on the tracks to disrupt service for their cause.
Naturally, police had no problems putting cuffs on the people fighting for social justice and are still looking for others who participated in the protest.
The Gothamist reports:
Police arrested 13 people who were protesting Neely’s death at the station on Saturday evening, according to the NYPD. One person was issued a summons, and the other 12 were hit with varying charges for resisting arrest, obstructing governmental administration, assault, trespassing and unlawful interference of a railroad train, police said.
NYC Transit President Richard Davey Called The Protestor’s Behavior Dangerous & Reckless
The Gothamist got a statement from NYC Transit President Richard Davey addressing the situation in which he said, “Jumping on tracks is dangerous, reckless and can be life-threatening,” and added, “While peaceful protest has always been part of the American fabric, endangering transit workers and other responders, while also delaying New Yorkers just trying to get where they need to go, by deliberately risking contact with an electrified third rail, is unacceptable.”
In a release, the NYPD noted that the six people it’s searching for “fled the location to parts unknown.”
No word on whether or not Daniel Penny will be charged with the crime, but expect these protests to go up a few notches if a grand jury decides not to bring charges against the marine.
What do y’all think of the situation? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Photo: Andrew Lichtenstein / Getty