Daniel Penny indicted in Jordan Neely subway death as ex-marines legal fund tops $2m – latest updates

“Cue the newest hero on the MAGA celebrity circuit: Daniel Penny, the former marine whose golden ticket to infamy was allegedly choking to death 30-year-old Jordan Neely, a Black homeless man with mental health issues on a New York City subway. Penny has been charged with second-degree manslaughter. He happens to be white, and is using self-defense as the excuse for his actions.

Stephen Lyons writes for The Independent last month:

A subway passenger fatally choked a homeless street performer on the Manhattan F train.

Daniel Penny is facing up to 15 years in prison over the subway killing of homeless Michael Jackson impersonator Jordan Neely.

On Wednesday, a New York grand jury voted to indict the 24-year-old former US Marine over the death of the 30-year-old who he placed in a fatal chokehold on a Manhattan subway train last month.

The grand jury indictment formally charging Mr Penny with second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide is expected to be unsealed at a later court date.

If convicted, he could face up to 15 years in state prison on the manslaughter charges. The criminally negligent homicide carries a maximum sentence of four years.

In his upside-down version of the parable, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis compared the man who fatally choked a homeless New Yorker to the “good Samaritan,” the biblical figure who came to the aid of a man who was stripped, beaten and left for dead on the side of the road.

According to witness accounts, Jordan Neely loudly complained of hunger and thirst when he boarded a Manhattan F train on 1 May, said he did not care whether he was jailed or killed, and threw his jacket to the ground before a man identified as Daniel Penny grabbed him from behind and pinned him to the ground in a chokehold for several minutes.

“We stand with Good Samaritans like Daniel Penny,” Mr DeSantis wrote on Twitter after Mr Penny was formally charged with manslaughter on 12 May. “Take back the streets for law abiding citizens,” he wrote.

Republican elected officials and right-leaning media outlets and personalities have similarly described Mr Penny as a heroic figure, and lambasted the fact that charges were brought against him at all, rejecting the idea that prosecutors or law enforcement should even investigate.

The Independent’s Alex Woodward investigates:

Skilled Michael Jackson impersonator died after being held in chokehold by member of the public on a train carriage floor, sparking angry protests and mass outrage.

A legal fund set up to support the 24-year-old former Marine Daniel Penny has topped $2.8m after it emerged that he has been indicted by a grand jury over the death of Jordan Neely.

While many New Yorkers have condemned Mr Penny’s actions and mental health advocates have argued against vigilante-style actions treating mentally ill people as though they are criminals, the former Marine has also received an outpouring of support from right-wing personalities branding him a hero and arguing his actions were pro-public safety.

Now, a legal fund set up on the Christian fundraising site GiveSendGo by Mr Penny’s attorneys at the firm Raiser and Kenniff has pulled in over $2.8m in donations to help cover his legal costs, as of 15 June.

“Daniel Penny is, a twenty-four-year-old college student and decorated Marine veteran, facing a criminal investigation stemming from him protecting individuals on a NYC subway train from an assailant who later died. Funds are being raised to pay Mr. Penny’s legal fees incurred from any criminal charges filed and any future civil lawsuits that may arise, as well as expenses related to his defense. All contributions are greatly appreciated. Any proceeds collected which exceed those necessary to cover Mr. Penny’s legal defense will be donated to a mental health advocacy program in New York City,” it reads.

Lawyers from Mills & Edwards representing Jordan Neely’s family, issued a statement, saying “We believe in our criminal justice system and believe it worked today.

“Daniel Penny’s indictment is the right result for the wrong he committed. The grand jury’s decision tells our city and our nation that “no one is above the law” no matter how much money they raise, no matter what affiliations they claim, and no matter what distorted stories they tell in interviews. Bottom line- at some point Mr Penny should have let go before Jordan died.

“There is no excuse for choking anyone for that long. Any reasonable person knows choking someone for that long will kill them.Daniel Penny did not have the right to be the judge, jury and executioner.

“The fight is not over but it took a lot of work to get to this place. The Neely family sends its sincerest thanks especially to our courageous elected officials like AOC and others, every peaceful protester and all who still believe wrong actions should have consequences.

“We will continue to fight on behalf of Jordan as this process moves forward.”