Jordan Neely
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A grand jury has indicted Daniel Penny in the death of Jordan Neely on a New York subway train last month.
On Wednesday (June 14th), grand jurors in Manhattan returned an indictment against Penny. The exact charges were not revealed, but are expected to be announced once the indictment is unsealed. Penny was charged with second-degree manslaughter last month and turned himself over to authorities. He would be released on a $100,000 bond afterward.
A representative for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg declined to comment on the indictment when contacted by the press. “I appreciate DA Bragg conducting a thorough investigation into the death of Jordan Neely. Like I said when the DA first brought charges, I have the utmost faith in the judicial process, and now that the Grand Jury has indicted Daniel Penny, a trial and justice can move forward,” said Mayor Eric Adams in a statement.
Lawyers for Neely’s family applauded the grand jury’s decision, issuing a statement saying that it was “the right result for the wrong he committed”. “Daniel Penny did not have the right to be the judge, jury, and executioner,” they also said. In their statement, lawyers for the 24-year-old former Marine said that “it should be noted that the standard of proof in a grand jury is very low and there has been no finding of wrongdoing. We’re confident that when a trial jury is tasked with weighing the evidence, they will find Daniel Penny’s actions on that train were fully justified.”
The indictment comes six weeks after May 1st when Neely boarded a northbound F train, appearing to be erratic and yelling about being unhoused. Penny grabbed the 30-year-old in a chokehold along with two other passengers, bringing him to the floor of the train. A bystander took video footage showing Penny having Neely in that chokehold for several minutes as he struggled. Neely would be pronounced dead after being hospitalized, and the medical examiner declared his death a homicide due to compression of the neck. Penny has maintained that he was acting in self-defense.
The case has shone a light on the serious societal divide, as protests ensued days after Neely’s death demanding justice. Right-wing networks and publications dubbed Penny a hero and “Good Samaritan”, including Republican presidential candidates. Penny’s lawyers stated that a crowdfunding campaign for him has raised $2.8 million so far for his defense.
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Weeks after being seen on video choking Jordan Neely on a subway train, Daniel Penny publicly speaks about being charged with Neely’s death.
Penny spoke out about the incident for the first time in an interview with Dana Kennedy of the New York Post in a Long Island enclave not far from where he grew up. The 24-year-old, who is facing manslaughter charges for the killing of Neely, claims that his move to put the 30-year-old houseless man in a chokehold “had nothing to do with race.”
“I judge a person based on their character. I’m not a white supremacist,” Penny continued. “Everybody who’s ever met me can tell you, I love all people, I love all cultures. You can tell by my past and all my travels and adventures around the world. I was actually planning a road trip through Africa before this happened.”
The former Marine said he was on his way to the gym after going to school when he encountered Neely on the northbound F train on May 1st. He alleged that Neely was invoking “terror” and was “menacing”. “I can tell you that the threats, the menacing, the terror that Jordan Neely introduced to that train has already been well documented. I don’t think it’s going to even be controverted,” he said to Kennedy. Penny also seemed to suggest that he would do what he did again. “You know, I live an authentic and genuine life,” he said. “And I would — if there was a threat and danger in the present.”
Penny was asked what he’d say to Neely’s family, who buried him last Friday (May 19th). “I’m deeply saddened by the loss of life,” he said. “It’s tragic what happened to him. Hopefully, we can change the system that’s so desperately failed us.” Lennon Edwards and Donte Mills, the lawyers representing Neely’s family, ripped the interview, calling it disgraceful and an attempt to whitewash Penny. “There’s no remorse,” Mr. Edwards said. “There is no accountability. There was no acknowledgment he killed someone.”
Penny was blasted by Reverend Al Sharpton in his eulogy for Neely, focusing on the way Penny has been treated by the media at large and argued that if Neely was a white Elvis Presley impersonator and Penny was Black and choking him, police “would not have let that Black guy leave the precinct that night.” Kennedy informed Penny of those comments, who nodded and said he was “not sure” of who Sharpton is. “I don’t really know celebrities that well,” he said.
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Daniel Penny, the man who choked and killed Jordan Neely on a New York City subway train has turned himself over to authorities.
Penny, a former Marine, arrived at the Fifth Precinct of the New York Police Department in the Chinatown neighborhood of Manhattan at 8 A.M. on Friday (May 12th). He surrendered alongside his attorneys, Steven Raiser & Thomas Kenniff.
Penny faces a charge of second-degree manslaughter, which was announced by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office on Thursday.
Raiser and Kenniff said in a statement that they were “confident that once all the facts and circumstances surrounding this tragic incident are brought to bear, Mr. Penny will be fully absolved of any wrongdoing.” A second-degree charge of manslaughter in New York is applied when the assailant is accused of recklessly causing the death of another person. If convicted of the charge in a trial, the 24-year-old Penny would face a sentence of up to 15 years in prison. The city medical examiner ruled that Neely died due to compression of the neck on May 3rd.
Penny’s surrender comes after days of sustained but rising outrage expressed by community activists and politicians who were shocked at witnessing the video of Penny restraining Neely, a Black man who was homeless, in a chokehold on a northbound F train. A witness on the same train stated that Neely was yelling at others after boarding the train while in the midst of a mental health crisis. Penny would grab Neely and put him in a chokehold as two other men restrained his arms and legs. Police arrived at the Broadway-Lafayette station, and rushed Neely to a nearby hospital where he died.
Mayor Eric Adams had received heavy criticism from Democratic politicians for not taking a stronger stance on the incident, but after the announcement of charges he said: “I have the utmost faith in the judicial process, and now justice can move forward against Daniel Penny.” Joshua Steinglass, a prosecutor who was part of the team that brought the case by the D.A.’s office against the Trump Organization, has been tasked to lead the investigation.
The family of Jordan Neely held a press conference afterward, blasting media depictions of Neely as excessively violent. Family attorney Lennon Edwards said of the charge, “We’re closer now to justice than we were a week ago because Daniel Penny has been arrested.” They also blasted Penny’s previous statement, claiming that “he’s getting to rewrite the account of what happened”.
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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
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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
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