(American Greatness) — Marine veteran Daniel Penny has been found not guilty of criminally negligent homicide in the chokehold death of a menacing subway rider in New York City.
The verdict comes after jurors told the court Friday morning they had deadlocked on the top charge, second-degree manslaughter, and Judge Maxwell Wiley instructed them to deliberate only on the second charge.
Penny’s lawyers had argued that the 26-year-old was trying to protect subway riders from Jordan Neely, who had threatened passengers and yelled “someone’s going to die today!” on the uptown F train.
Neely, 30, who had a lengthy criminal record and an active arrest warrant, was reportedly high on a type of synthetic marijuana known as K2 when he barged onto the train May 1, 2023, and started threatening people. He reportedly suffered from schizophrenia, and had a history of psychosis.
“Penny, in a voluntary interview with police after the incident, raised concerns about a series of subway shoving incidents involving mentally ill people on the city’s transit system.
‘He was talking gibberish … but these guys are pushing people in front of trains and stuff,’ he told detectives. There were more than 20 subway shoves in the year before Penny’s encounter with Neely.”
Although he was released without charges after the interview, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office took up the case and secured a grand jury indictment days later.
Penny, who was arrested on May 12, faced up to 15 years in prison if convicted on the manslaughter charge or up to four years if convicted on the criminally negligent homicide charge.
The jurors had been deliberating since early Tuesday afternoon and had asked for clarification on key evidence and testimony in the case, including videos of the chokehold and Penny’s interview with police.
After the verdict of “not guilty” was read, “Penny’s side of the courtroom erupted in cheers,” according to Fox News, prompting an angry response from Neely’s father, Andre Zachary.
As someone was clapping, Zachary reportedly turned and glared at the person, saying “Are you trying to f—ing get killed?”
Hank Newsome, a leader of NYC’s chapter of Black Lives Matter, commented that “it’s a small world.”
Zachary was escorted out of the courtroom after his outburst.
Outside the court, BLM protesters held “Justice For Jordan Neely signs and chanted ‘no justice, no peace.'”
This article was originally published by American Greatness.
Debra Heine
Debra Heine is a conservative Catholic mom of six and longtime political pundit. She has written for several conservative news websites over the years, including Breitbart and PJ Media.
