U.S. Marine veteran Daniel Penny turned himself in at a New York police station Friday to face manslaughter charges in the death of Jordan Neely.
Neely, a mentally ill homeless man with over 40 arrests, had allegedly been screaming threats on the F train in New York City before being wrestled to the ground and placed in a chokehold by Penny and two others.
Neely lost consciousness during the incident and medics were unable to resuscitate him.
The manslaughter charges against Penny followed more than a week of pressure from leftist activists, including Al Sharpton, as well as the corporate legacy media.
If Penny is convicted of his second-degree manslaughter charge, he faces up to 15 years in prison. The two other men who wrestled Neely to the ground were not charged.
People attend a vigil at City Hall Park for Jordan Neely, who was fatally choked on a subway by a fellow passenger ten days ago, on May 11, 2023 in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
In anonymous comments to the New York Post, a 66-year old female witness to the incident alleged Neely had been threatening passengers prior to Penny’s intervention.
“I hope he [Penny] has a great lawyer, and I’m praying for him. And I pray that he gets treated fairly, I really do,” said the witness.
“He [Neely] said, ‘I don’t care. I’ll take a bullet, I’ll go to jail’ because he would kill people on the train,” recalled the witness. “He said ‘I would kill a motherf***er. I don’t care. I’ll take a bullet. I’ll go to jail.”
A memorial for Jordan Neely continues to grow outside of the Broadway-Lafayette subway station where he died after a violent encounter with another subway passenger on May 06, 2023 in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
“This gentleman, Mr. Penny, did not stand up. Did not engage with the gentleman. He said not a word. It was all Mr. Neely that was… threatening the passengers. If he did not get what he wants.”
A post on Reddit made nine years ago alleged Neely had a long history of erratic and aggressive behavior on the New York subway.
The post, archived here, warns New Yorkers to “try to stay away from the Michael Jackson impersonator if you see him.”
A post on Reddit from nine years ago warns the public about #JordanNeely. The man’s death after being restrained by passengers has ignited BLM rage because one of the passengers involved appears to be white. https://t.co/H2x7htqD8J pic.twitter.com/eHKarkHgj7
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) May 5, 2023
Pictures linked to by the Reddit user alleged the subject of the post to be Neely.
Describing Neely as a “scary dude,” the poster alleged MTA officials did nothing as Neely was “going off, cussing up a storm” and “blowed his gasket.”
“Train arrives and I just get in the car he’s not in because I’m sure as f*** not getting in the same car as him… I was scared for the people next to him out of fear that some one was gonna fall on the tracks.”
In a statement to the press, attorneys for Daniel Penny said their client acted to defend himself and others on board the F train.
“When Mr. Neely began aggressively threatening Daniel Penny and the other passengers, Daniel, with the help of others, acted to protect themselves, until help arrived.”
WATCH: Jordan Neely Protesters Flood the Streets, Clash with NYPD
Ben Von Klemperer via Storyful
“Daniel never intended to harm Mr. Neely and could not have foreseen his untimely death. We hope that out of this awful tragedy will come a new commitment by our elected officials to address the mental health crisis on our streets and subways.”
New York City mayor Eric Adams, who has been attacked by the left for insufficiently condemning Penny, said Neely’s death highlighted the need to get mentally ill people off the streets.
“I want to say upfront that there were many people who tried to help Jordan get the support he needed,” said Adams. “But the tragic reality of severe mental illness is that some who suffer from it are at times unaware of their own need for care.”
Allum Bokhari is the senior technology correspondent at Breitbart News. He is the author of #DELETED: Big Tech’s Battle to Erase the Trump Movement and Steal The Election.