A group of several hundred people protest the death of Jordan Neely, Friday, May 5, 2023, at Washington Square Park in New York. Neely, a locally-known Michael Jackson impersonator who friends say suffered from worsening mental health, died Monday, May 1, when a fellow rider pulled him to the floor and pinned him with a hold taught in Marine combat training. (AP Photo/Brooke Lansdale)
By Jake Offenhartz and Michael R. Sisak
A man who kept a chokehold around the neck of an agitated fellow passenger in the New York City subway, leading to the other rider's death, turned himself in to authorities Friday on a manslaughter charge that could send him to prison for 15 years.
Manhattan prosecutors announced Thursday they would bring the criminal charge against Daniel Penny, 24, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, in the May 1 death of Jordan Neely, 30.
Penny turned himself in at a Manhattan police station Friday morning.
Neely's death, captured on video by a freelance journalist, has raised an uproar over many issues, including how those with mental illness are treated by the transit system and the city, as well as crime and vigilantism.
Thomas Kenniff, one of Penny's attorneys, said Penny turned himself in “voluntarily and with the sort of dignity and integrity that is characteristic of his history of service to this grateful nation.”
In a brief statement to reporters outside the police station, Kenniff said that he expected an arraignment later Friday and that the process “will unfold from there.”
Asked how Penny was feeling, Kenniff said his client “is dealing with the situation, like I said, with the sort of integrity and honor that is characteristic of who he is and characteristic of his honorable service in the United States Marine Corps.”
Penny's attorneys have said he acted in self-defense when he restrained Neely.
According to an onlooker, Neely, who is Black, had been screaming and begging for money aboard the train, but had not gotten physical with anyone.
Penny, who is white, was questioned by police in the aftermath but was released without charges.
Friends of Neely said the former subway performer had been dealing with homelessness and mental illness in recent years. He had several arrests to his name, including the 2021 assault of a 67-year-old woman leaving a subway station.
A second-degree manslaughter charge in New York will require the jury to find that a person has engaged in reckless conduct that creates an unjustifiable risk of death, and then consciously disregards that risk.
The law also requires that conduct to be a gross deviation from how a reasonable person would act in a similar situation.
_____
Associated Press writer Karen Matthews contributed to this report.
David Tafuri, Former Obama Campaign Foreign Policy Advisor & Former State Department Official, joined Cheddar News to break down the latest geopolitical stories from Beijing, amid China's human rights abuses against Uyghur Muslims and yet another Russian doping scandal.
Dr. Jennifer Haythe of Columbia University's Irving Medical Center, joined Wake Up With Cheddar to discuss the latest with the pandemic, as the debate over child safety rages amid low vaccination rates and states easing school mask mandates.
David Nelson, Chief Strategist at Belpointe, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he says that Wednesday's market movement shows a rotation back into the industries that were hit hard in January, but says his eyes are firmly fixed on the January CPI data set to be released Thursday.
Russia is preparing alongside Belarus for reportedly one of the largest joint military exercises ever held. Some analysts are concerned this could be a disguise for a real attack, while the Kremlin contends that the exercise is meant to confront potential "unprecedented security threats." Christian Whiton, a former State Department senior advisor, joined Cheddar News to break down the still tense situation. "While it could of course be a prelude to invasion, it seems like the Biden administration is signaling that if you look at Europeans, the Germans and Macron … who just met with Putin, they seem to be thinking that maybe this is a show of force by Russia intended at political intimidation, not actual invasion," said Whiton.
Truckers in Canada have blockaded the Ambassador Bridge, the busiest border crossing between Canada and the U.S. protesting a COVID-19 vaccine mandate. Cheddar News spoke with Samir Kapadia, head of trade practice at the Vogal Group, about how this impacts trade between the two countries.
New York City is not only dealing with the ongoing pandemic, it’s also facing a surge in crime. President Biden recently traveled to New York to meet with the city’s new mayor, Eric Adams, to discuss the rise in crime and gun violence.
The president praised Mayor Adams' crimefighting agenda and unveiled a new federal initiative to curb the flow of illegal weapons from the south. Josefa Velásquez, Senior Reporter for THE CITY, joined Cheddar's Fast Forward to talk about how the mayor is battling this increase in crime in his first weeks in office.
The Democratic governors of New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, and Oregon say they will lift mask requirements for schools in the coming weeks, reflecting a nationwide shift away from restrictions. Cheddar News speaks with internist Dr. Vivek Cherian whether it's safe to relax the regulation.
Amazon warehouse workers in Alabama are set to begin voting to unionize for a second time after workers at the facility in the town of Bessemer overwhelmingly voted against forming a union during an election early last year; but in November, the National Labor Relations Board overturned the vote, upholding a union challenge of the results which argued that Amazon undermined the conditions for a fair election. Another round of ballots will now be mailed out to works at the warehouse for a so-called re-run election. Director of Labor and Employment Studies at San Francisco State University John Logan and National Field Director for Our Revolution Mike Oles joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
