Marine charged in killing of Jordan Neely and faces trial

Sometime after 2 On the afternoon of May 1, 2023, Jordan boarded Neely on Second Ave in Manhattan. a northbound F train. Neely, 30, was no stranger to the subway. For years, Neely performed as a Michael Jackson impersonator both underground and in the tourist hub of Times Square, bringing cheer to exhausted straphangers and passersby. Neely, 30, had fans even outside of New York City. Neighbors described Neely as nice, chatting about video games and anime, but quiet. There were even times when Neely, who had no cash on hand as a street musician, gave money to needy children for food and haircuts, they said The Guardian.

That day, Neeley happened to get into a train car with a driver named Daniel Penny. The then 24-year-old Marine veteran had boarded the train in downtown Brooklyn just before 2 p.m. Penny, who was walking home from class, planned to get off at the Broadway-Lafayette station and go to the gym. He wanted to go swimming.

The car was overcrowded. According to court documents, at some point Neely began screaming. What exactly he said remains controversial: Most passengers reported that Neely commented that he was homeless, hungry and thirsty. Several claimed Neely threw his jacket on the ground. Many said Neely said he wanted to go to jail or prison. A handful said Neely threatened to hurt others on the train. Some said Neely said nothing of the sort.

“For me it was like a normal day in New York. This is what I’m used to seeing. I didn’t really pay attention to whether I was being threatened or anything like that, but it was a little different because, you know, you don’t hear anyone saying anything like that,” said one witness.

“I’m from New York and have ridden subways and buses all my life. I personally interacted with people on the train, if not actually witnessed outbursts, so I personally didn’t feel threatened by it. . . That was just common for me,” another recalled.

Another said: “[H]First of all, I wasn’t really worried about what was going on… I’m kind of used to it, so I see it all the time.”

The events that followed Neely’s outburst, which authorities said lasted just 30 seconds, were anything but ordinary. Penny approached Neely from behind, grabbed him by the neck and pulled him to the ground. Penny’s back was on the floor, Neely’s back was against his chest. Penny continued to grab him by the neck and wrap his legs around Neeley’s. Neely couldn’t free herself.

The train roared into Broadway-Lafayette station. Most of the passengers in the car got out. But Penny continued to hold Neely back. At some point, two other male passengers grabbed Neely’s arms, further thwarting his escape. Five minutes after Penny’s restraint, Neely stopped moving with apparent intent. A witness described Neely’s behavior as “twitching and the kind of agonizing movement you see in death.”

“If you don’t let him go now, you’ll kill him,” a driver told Penny. After more than six minutes, Penny crawled out from under Neely. Penny and one of the passengers rolled Neely’s limp body onto her side. According to court documents, a “thick and pink substance” flowed from Neely’s mouth.

The police arrived a few minutes later. Neely’s pulse was weak and he wasn’t breathing. Police attempted cardiopulmonary resuscitation without success: Neely was pronounced dead an hour later at a nearby hospital.

After more than a year, Penny is scheduled to stand trial on October 21 on charges of involuntary manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter. These specific allegations mean that Penny will not stand trial for the intentional killing of Neely. Prosecutors argue that Penny acted negligently, which he should have known could have resulted in Neely’s death. They pointed to his Marine training, which included a discussion of the potentially fatal danger of chokeholds, and the fact that he continued to hold Neely after he stopped moving. Penny, who has pleaded not guilty, insists his actions were legally justified and claims he had every reason to believe Neely posed an imminent and potentially deadly threat. At the time, Neely’s death sparked a discourse about crime and disorder that resonated far beyond New York City. Many saw it as an indictment of a social support system that regularly fails society’s most vulnerable, while others dismissed the narrative as justified vigilantism on the lawless streets of a liberal city. And as the country becomes increasingly politically fragmented, it is unclear how the trial will play out.

PENNY, for his part, spoke openly with police about the incident. At first, Penny said, he didn’t particularly care for Neely. “He was just an idiot,” Penny recalled in a statement to police, whom he voluntarily spoke to after the incident. Then, Penny claimed, Neely’s behavior took a turn and claimed he threw a jacket at passengers. “He says, ‘If I don’t get this, this and this, then I could go to prison forever.’ He was talking nonsense, you know, but… I don’t know. These guys are pushing people in front of trains and stuff…” After that interview, Penny left the Fifth Precinct a free man. Police officers who interacted with Penny described his demeanor as at ease. Shortly afterwards, video recordings of the encounter emerged and sparked public outrage. The coroner then ruled that Neely’s cause of death was “compression of the neck (stranglehold).” Penny was arrested on May 12, 2023.

Accordingly new YorkNeely had a history of trauma and unstable housing, coupled with ineffectively treated schizophrenia and addiction, which many believe set the stage for a senseless death. Many on the right viewed Penny as a bloodthirsty American who rightly defended himself and others against violent disorder. Top Republicans call Penny the real victim to intimidate Democrats over crime. Without watching the video, Donald Trump said Penny was “in great danger and the other people in the car were in great danger.” The case also recalled New York City’s troubling history of subway vigilance and drew comparisons to Bernie Goetz. (In 1987, Goetz, who is white, was acquitted of attempted murder charges after shooting four black teenagers on a train several years earlier.)

As politicized as Penny’s case once was, it remains to be seen whether his trial will fuel the partisan discourse unfolding in the shadow of the 2024 election. Yes, Trump has a penchant for vigilantism. But the Republican presidential nominee has focused on migrants in his recent rants about violent crime – which has been slumping under the Biden-Harris administration – and claimed undocumented newcomers are bringing disorder to the United States. It’s also unclear how much voters will care about the motives in Penny’s trial. Polls show Americans are most concerned about the economic and refugee crises. And jurors in Manhattan—frustrated as they may be by the deteriorating quality of life under the administration of indicted Mayor Eric Adams—might well consider the facts rather than the noise on social media.

PENNY is willing to use justification, claiming that his reticence towards Neely is legitimate and not criminal. In New York, a person can legally use physical force against another person to defend themselves or others who are in imminent danger. Some witnesses who testified before the grand jury said Neely’s actions frightened them. A mother and son “shielded themselves” behind the boy’s stroller to protect themselves from Neely, Penny’s team wrote in court papers, citing grand jury testimony. Another passenger told jurors they felt like they were “dying.” One high school student placed her hands on a classmate’s chest and recalled, “She was praying for the doors to open.” Another claimed, “I’ve been taking the subway for many years. “I came across a lot of things, but nothing scared me so much.” They will say that Neely had K2, a highly addictive synthetic cannabinoid that can cause aggression and psychosis, in his body – something prosecutors themselves allege want to say in court as they discuss the coroner’s findings – and they are asking a judge to let them present historical evidence of his past with K2 abuse and psychiatric records.

Prosecutors want to bar the witness who would discuss them from testifying, arguing in court filings that “a deceased victim’s prior bad deeds and psychiatric history are not admissible unless they are relevant to an issue at trial.” Furthermore, they note, Penny could not have known about this history when she assessed whether Neely posed a serious threat. “The defense should not be allowed to introduce damaging background information about the victim’s character and history. The only reason for this is to influence the jury to devalue Mr. Neely’s life,” prosecutors argued.

Penny’s lawyers insist that he could not have predicted that his actions could result in Neely’s death and claim that Penny did not mean to kill Neely. But prosecutors don’t have to prove intent on the charges Penny faces – they only have to prove that Penny “recklessly” caused another person’s death. And there is one explanation after another for this. “I just threw him out. I just put him in a chokehold,” Penny told police. “He came throwing shit, he’s like I don’t give a fuck, I’m going to prison for life and stuff, so I just walked up behind him and put him in a chokehold. He threatened everyone.”

“We just fell to the ground. He tried to curl up, I had him pretty good,” Penny told police. “I was in the Marine Corps.”