What happened on a New York City subway train on May 1 was a tragedy: Jordan Neely died.
Daniel Penny, 24 years old, a former Marine, has been charged with second-degree manslaughter in Neely’s death, after prosecutors weighed the evidence following multiple protests.
Neely became unresponsive and was pronounced dead at the hospital. The medical examiner ruled his death a homicide.
“Let’s not forget that there were three people restraining him, and it is vital that the two others are also held accountable for their actions,” argued Rev. Al Sharpton. “The justice system needs to send a clear, loud message that vigilantism has never been acceptable.”
But was this “vigilantism”?
“Penny claims he and others on the train felt threatened and did not intend to harm Neely,” reported Eyewitness News ABC7NY. Penny physically overpowered Neely “after witnesses said Neely was making threats and scaring passengers,” informed Good Morning America, “but that there was no indication that he was violent.”
Good night! Making threats is one of the foremost indicators of coming violence.
“Officials and friends say Neely struggled with homelessness and mental illness for years,” noted CBS Mornings, “and he worked as a Michael Jackson impersonator.”
Missing from the CBS coverage — and so many other stories — was the fact that, as CNN disclosed, “Neely had a lengthy arrest record … including 42 arrests … and three unprovoked assaults on women in the subway between 2019 and 2021.”
Three. Assaults on women. In the subway.
As one attorney put it, NYC prosecutor Alvin Bragg must now prove that Daniel Penny “recklessly caused the death of Jordan Neely.”
There is little doubt Penny caused the death but was his impulse “reckless” … or responsible?
Thank goodness for the right to trial by jury.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
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8 replies on “New York Vigil”
One has to have been rather sheltered from the problem of the violent, urban homeless to rush to a sincere conclusion that Mr Penny committed a moral breach.
Gordon Neeley had been arrested 4 times for sucker punching folks on the subway and knocking them out. Unprovoked, sudden attacks. All potentially life-threatening. His preferred target was women traveling alone.
Was Gordon Neeley as big a threat to New Yorkers as Alvin Bragg?
Even trial by jury is not always a guarantee of justice. Like it or not, today’s jury pool can be intimidated by activists, especially in a city like New York. Bragg might not have to prove Penny acted ‘recklessly’. If the jury is predisposed to that finding, they will give Bragg his verdict.
Hang him! Whoops, he is already dead!
One thing frequently stated is that Penney was a trained Marine and should know how to apply a choke hold. I never ever saw any training for restraining the enemy. The training was to kill the enemy.
In my karate class we were rigorously taught that one person trying to restrain another incurs consider risk of injury both to themselves as well as to the person being restrained. There is no training to restrain without injury. People watching too many movies.
The question missing from all of the reports; Why was Neely out in public and not in a facility?