Daniel Penny Faces No More Charges in Chokehold Death of Jordan Neely

Daniel Penny, the ex-Marine that put 30 year-old homeless man Jordan Neely in a chokehold on a northbound F train last May, was acquitted of criminally negligent homicide on Dec. 9.

The incident–and now his acquittal–have sparked an ongoing political clash over race, mental health, homelessness and subway safety in New York City.

All charges against Penny in connection with the incident have been dropped, following prosecutors withdrawing the more serious charge of manslaughter on Dec. 6, after a jury said it was deadlocked on a verdict. He could have faced up to 15 years in prison on that charge, and sentenced up to four years in prison on the less serious charge of criminally negligent homicide.

Andre Zachery, the father of Jordan Neely, expressed vocal consternation after the verdict and was escorted out of the courtroom. Chants of “no justice, no peace,” could be heard from outside the courtroom, according to BBC News, one of many international outlets following the case.

When queried about the verdict at a press conference on Monday, Mayor Eric Adams said that “Jordan should not have had had to die. And I strongly believe, as I’ve been stating, probably from day one, we have a mental health system that is broken.”

“When you have someone repeatedly going through that system, that’s a signature of failure,” Adams continued. “We need help in Albany and in the City Council. We can’t sit back and mourn the loss of someone that is caught up in the system when we’re not taking the action every day, but jury of his peers heard the case, saw all the facts and all the evidence and made a decision. I joined DA [Alvin] Bragg in stating that I respect the process.”

Neely’s family said he had a history of mental health problems, which started around the time his mother was strangled to death 15 years ago. He’d been arrested numerous times as well.

Neely, a former Michael Jackson impersonator, was screaming that he needed money and about being hungry and not wanting to live anymore when Penny pinned him to the train car’s floor.

A medical examiner later ruled that the chokehold had killed Neely. Prosecutors argued that Penny kept Neely in the position for six minutes, despite knowing that it could be fatal given his military background. Penny’s defense lawyers argued that Neely could have died from other causes outside of the chokehold. Defense attorneys claimed that he was protecting passengers, some of whom testified that they supported Penny’s actions.

Black Lives Matter activists have said that they believe Neely’s death was a form of racist vigilantism, while various conservatives have said that they believe Penny is a hero.

“We couldn’t be more pleased that a jury of Danny’s peers acquitted him of any wrongdoing,” Penny’s lawyers said in a statement on Monday. “New Yorkers can take some comfort in knowing that we can continue to stand up for one another without sacrificing our rights or our freedoms.”

Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg, who brought the charges against Penny, said he would respect the jury’s verdict in a statement: “Their lengthy deliberation — and the totality of the facts and the evidence — underscored why this case was put in front of a jury of Mr. Penny’s peers.”

Andre Zachary, Neely’s father, expressed his disappointment in the verdict outside the courtroom. “I miss my son. My son didn’t have to go through this. I didn’t have to go through this either. It hurts, it really, really hurts. What are we going to do, people? What’s going to happen to us now? I’ve had enough of this. The system is rigged,” he said.