Despite the visible presence of police in New York City’s subway system, there are still instances of New Yorkers taking it upon themselves to either defend or dole out justice during their commutes, which lately has meant a deadly end for homeless individuals.
White ex-marine Daniel Penny, 24, was launched into notoriety after he choked Jordan Neely, 30, a Black Michael Jackson impersonator who struggled with homelessness and mental illness, to death in May on the subway. Penny was eventually charged with manslaughter, indicted by a grand jury, arraigned on May 12, and immediately released on $100,000 bail.
Penny has claimed self defense in his case for keeping Neely in a 15-minute chokehold after Neely was shouting at passengers and begging for food and money on the train.
“A grand jury has returned a true bill in the case against Daniel Penny. The Supreme Court arraignment will be held on June 28 in Part 42. We cannot comment further until the arraignment takes place,” said Manhattan District Attorney’s Office Press Secretary Doug Cohen about updates in the case.
Grand jury indictments are mandated by New York state law for felony charges.
In a letter to Mayor Eric Adams, 45 organizations continue to “condemn” his response to Neely’s killing, saying that his administration has created an environment that led to Neely’s death by stoking fears of the subway and “incorrectly linking homelessness and mental health with crime and danger.”
Rev. Al Sharpton, founder and president of the National Action Network (NAN), who gave Neely’s eulogy, condemned Penny’s “vigilantism.”
“The Manhattan grand jury saw right through his false narrative by voting to move this case forward. While they should be saluted for this righteous step, we wish the charge would have reflected what this really was: murder,” said Sharpton in a statement. “NAN will continue to monitor this case to ensure this killer is held accountable and there is justice for Jordan.”
Observers charge that Penny’s vigilantism has seemingly opened a floodgate by setting a type of precedence where subway crime is concerned.
In a separate incident on the J train in Brooklyn last week, Jordan Williams, 20, a Black Fedex worker from Queens, fatally stabbed “erratic” Devictor Ouedraogo, 36, who was reportedly behaving menacingly toward passengers and punched Williams and his girlfriend, according to reporting from CBS.
Unlike Penny, Williams did not have bail set at $100,000. He was, however, arrested immediately after the stabbing death of Ouedraogo, whereas Penny was allowed to walk free after Neely died.
Williams’s attorney was quick to draw comparisons between this and Penny’s case, asking for fair treatment regardless of his client’s skin color.
When asked about the disparity between the two cases, Adams denied responsibility.
“That process is beyond my control,” he said. “We have a criminal justice system. I really respect our criminal justice system. It doesn’t always get the results that I want personally, but it is a system, and that system is going to run its course. And it is very challenging to look at case A and say, ‘Why did this happen here,’ and case B, ‘Why didn’t it happen here?’
“That is extremely challenging to do. From a distance, that is how people respond and understand. I understand that. But if our criminal justice system operated on that, that would be frightening for me.”
(Additional reporting from Amsterdam News reporter Tandy Lau.)
Ariama C. Long is a Report for America corps member and writes about politics for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting https://bit.ly/amnews1.
It going to be more Vigilantes on subway . If one killer walks more will . Daniel Penney is a killer , liar and coward . who wants to get away with murder because he white . The police take killers alive all the time some even go to Macdonalds before they are arrested . Neely a unarm homeless hungry man was triple team and choke hold to his death on camera in the subway . Was Penney train or i not train you can not have it both ways . Three men could not take one man down without killing him should have never ever intervened . It does not matter what he meant it what he did . Killers get taken alive a homeless hungry man get murdered by three well fed men .