A spokesman for the Manhattan District Attorney’s office has confirmed that the former Marine who restrained an out-of-control homeless man on a New York City subway will be charged with manslaughter over the man’s death.
As the Daily Caller reports, 24-year-old Daniel Penny will face a single charge of “manslaughter in the second degree,” according to a spokesman for DA Alvin Bragg (D-N.Y.).
“We cannot provide any additional information until he has been arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court,” the spokesman continued in his statement to Gotham Gazette, “which we expect to take place tomorrow.” The spokesman declined to provide additional details until after Penny’s arraignment, which is set to take place on Friday.
The incident took place on May 1st when Jordan Neely, an African-American man who had been arrested over 40 times in the past, began violently threatening passengers on a subway train, screaming that he was not afraid to go to prison and not afraid to die. Eventually, Penny approached him from behind and put him in a chokehold to restrain him, with several other passengers helping to hold Neely down on the floor of the car.
When EMS officials arrived, they declared Neely dead at the scene. On May 3rd, a Manhattan medical examiner ruled Neely’s death to be a homicide.
Penny’s lawyers gave a statement declaring that, while Neely’s death was an “awful tragedy,” Penny nevertheless was justified because Neely “began aggressively threatening Daniel.”
“Mr. Neely had a documented history of violent and erratic behavior, the apparent result of ongoing and untreated mental illness,” said the statement from the law firm Raiser and Kenniff, which is representing Penny. “When Mr. Neely began aggressively threatening Daniel Penny and the other passengers, Daniel, with the help of others, acted to protect themselves, until help arrived. Daniel never intended to harm Mr. Neely and could not have foreseen his untimely death.”
The attorneys for Neely’s family, Donte Mills and Lennon Edwards, issued their own statement condemning Penny, claiming without evidence that he “intentionally wrapped his arms around Jordan’s neck, and squeezed and kept squeezing.”
“It is clear he is the one who acted with indifference, both at the time he killed Jordan and now in his first public message,” the angry statement continued. “He never attempted to help him at all. In short, his actions on the train, and now his words, show why he needs to be in prison.”
Video of the incident went viral and sparked several protests, with one such demonstration on May 9th being broken up by police after far-left protesters, some of whom were funded by progressive billionaires, kept blocking traffic and refused to leave the streets. New York police officers made 11 arrests, and recovered several weapons from the scene, including a Molotov cocktail.