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Marine veteran Daniel Penny was found not guilty today of criminally negligent homicide in the death of homeless, mentally ill, part-time Michael Jackson impersonator Jordan Neely, who threatened and intimidated passengers on a New York City subway car in 2023. It was a trial that divided the nation between those that saw Penny as a hero and those that saw him as a racist vigilante.
As you no doubt recall, Neely, 30, was described by witnesses on the subway car as ranting in an “insanely threatening” way, including declaring “I want to hurt people,” that “someone is going to die today,” and that he wanted “to go to prison.” Court documents indicated that passengers feared for their lives. Penny, a fellow passenger, stepped up to prevent others from being victimized, subduing Neely in a chokehold while a couple of other passengers assisted until officers and responders arrived. Neely died later at the scene, and Penny was subsequently charged with second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide, facing up to 15 years in prison. Penny, now 26, pleaded not guilty.
His attorneys argued that their client’s chokehold was justified due to Neely’s menacing behavior, and they also questioned whether the chokehold even caused the homeless man’s death. The medical examiner never provided specific evidence to support the claim that Neely died of asphyxiation.
“Some people say I was trying to choke him to death, which is also not true. I was trying to restrain him,” said Penny, who had to walk each day to the courthouse through a gauntlet of noisy Black Lives Matter protesters. “You can see in the video there’s a clear rise and fall of his chest, indicating that he’s breathing. I’m trying to restrain him from being able to carry out the threats.”
Before his death, Neely had been arrested well over 40 times for multiple assaults, attempted child abduction, drugs, and indecent exposure. At the time of his subway confrontation with Penny, he was also under investigation for pushing someone onto the subway tracks. There was a warrant out for his arrest related to a violent attack on a 67-year-old woman.
NYC Councilwoman Vickie Paladino attended closing arguments in the case and tweeted, “What I witnessed was a travesty the likes of which I didn’t think possible in the United States”:
I saw despicable excuse for a DA stand up in front of a court and flagrantly lie for no other reason but to destroy the life of a good man for the ‘crime’ of protecting a train full of people from a violent deranged bum… And it shows how nakedly and unapologetically political the Manhattan DA’s office has become. Shame on us for allowing our once-great city to descend to this level. I’d call it a clown show but that would imply there’s an element of humor in any of this. There isn’t. I only pray that the jury can see through this charade and find Daniel Penny innocent. Either way, the damage has been done and the message is clear — the Manhattan DA will not think twice about destroying the life of anyone who stands up to criminals in self defense. We are to be ruled by the lawless…
The jury initially deliberated for three days before ending deadlocked, leading the judge to dismiss the manslaughter charge on Friday. But instead of declaring a mistrial, the judge – determined to find Penny guilty of something – sent the jury back for continued deliberation on the lesser charge, which came with a sentence of up to four years. Today, the jury found him not guilty of that charge.
“The NYPD Officers who initially interviewed Daniel Penny and declined to arrest him got it right,” Maud Maron told Fox News Digital. Maron is a former public defender and parents’ rights advocate who is running to unseat George Soros-backed Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Maron continued,
The Manhattan jury who heard all the evidence, deliberated and returned a verdict of not guilty got it right. The New Yorkers and their fellow Americans who were rooting for Daniel Penny as a hero and understood he should never have been charged in the first place got it right. The only person who got this wrong was Alvin Bragg.
Black supremacist Hawk Newsome, leader of the Black Lives Matter chapter of Greater New York, denounced the decision outside the courthouse as a victory for “white supremacy” and the “KKK,” and called for black vigilantism against whites.
Penny’s supporters, on the other hand, are exultant – but it surely must feel like a hollow victory to Penny himself, who was needlessly dragged through this legal ringer by race-mongering, pro-crime activists like D.A. Bragg and prosecutor Dafna Yoran, who repeatedly referred to Penny as the “white man” during the trial. Yoran, by the way, was hailed in Go Mag’s “100 Women We Love” for spearheading “restorative justice” for a black man who mugged and killed an 87-year-old Asian professor. (Yoran is also “married” to a Black Lives Matter-supporting artist who specializes in “Latinx,” “Feminist,” and “Decolonial” work.)
And besides, Penny’s ordeal isn’t over yet. Neely’s father filed a wrongful death suit against Penny last week even as jury deliberation began. Where was this model father when his mentally ill son was living on the street committing dozens of crimes? It’s hard not to see his lawsuit as naked opportunism.
But for tonight, justice has been done. Rep. Eli Crane (R-Ariz) even wants to award Penny the Congressional Gold Medal. Prior to the acquittal, Crane announced plans to introduce a resolution to do just that. “Daniel Penny’s actions exemplify what it means to stand against the grain to do right in a world that rewards moral cowardice,” said Crane:
Our system of “justice” is fiercely corrupt, allowing degenerates to steamroll our laws and our sense of security, while punishing the righteous. Mr. Penny bravely stood in the gap to defy this corrupt system and protect his fellow Americans. I’m immensely proud to introduce this resolution to award him with the Congressional Gold Medal to recognize his heroism.
The resolution adds, “It is the sense of the Congress that Daniel Penny, with integrity and honor that is characteristic of who he is and of his honorable service in the United States Marine Corps, stepped in to protect women and children from an individual who was threatening to kill innocent bystanders, and he is a hero.”
Hero indeed. Whether you wanted Daniel Penny acquitted or convicted says everything about what kind of society you think America should be: one in which righteous men are honored for intervening to defend the defenseless, or one in the grip of chaos and disorder, where the full weight of the State’s law enforcement apparatus is directed not at the lawless and the criminally insane, but at those it deems must be punished for the sake of racial “equity.” Today, New York City jurors voted for the former, and I don’t think it’s reading too much into it to see that as a welcome, positive sign of a much-needed shift in this country away from wokeness and toward reason and commonsense.
Domestic terrorists like Hawk Newsome and BLM are threatening to turn Neely’s death into another George Floyd movement to justify their violent, anti-white racism and anti-Americanism, but this is a different country from 2020 when that rioting swept American cities – it’s even different from one month ago. The Trump election landslide has flipped the political and cultural momentum. As my colleague Daniel Greenfield has pointed out, “After the Daniel Penny verdict, BLM couldn’t summon up more than a sidewalk scuffle. BLM was never anything but a front for leftist groups that are currently busy rioting against Israel. Without leftist backing, BLM is nothing.”
And Daniel Penny is free.
Follow Mark Tapson at Culture Warrior
Good piece, Mark. 👍
Daniel Penny knew martial arts. From what I’ve heard, he had a brown belt in speicalized fighting. He KNEW that once you go limp, you MUST be released IMMEDIATELY. A chokehold isn’t asphyxiation, it’s the cutting off of the blood supply to the brain. If you’ve ever seen a martial arts contest, once someone “taps out” they are released – and going unconscious means you have seconds, not minutes, to live. You can still “breathe” and your heart still beats, but you are brain dead and your body soon follows.
That the jury had people who believed he was guilty of the more severe sentence, manslaughter, max sentence 15 years, and yet acquitted him of the lesser offence of criminally negligent homicide, 3-4 years,max, defies logic.
My impression is that he got caught up in the heat of the moment and continued to kill even after he was warned by passengers that he was dealing death. You may hate me for this observation but it’s been my experience that people who volunteer for the specialized services of the armed forces, like the Marines, the Navy Seals, the Army Rangers, have, as part of their motivation, the desire to kill (“The Greatest Game” as I’ve heard it spoken of). Well, he didn’t have a chance when he was in the war, he had one now and it was too good an opportunity to give up.
As they say, “the jury has spoken” and now it’s up to God if Jordan Neely is to get any justice.
No problem.
If you’re ever attacked, I’ll stand. aside and allow it to happen.
If BLM trash come to burn your house down, as they love to vent by burning other people’s stuff, I’ll take no action.
I could care less if he meant to kill (he didn’t), as Jordan Williams did mean to kill his tormentor.
The difference between them is that Penny doesn’t have black privilege.
As Michael Byrd enjoyed black privilege and was clearly intent on murdering a honky that day.
Penny performed a public service by reducing a 2-legged vermin’s body temperature to graveyard temperature. For that he deserves a public safety award and an environmental award. End of story. Next
That Penny may have had a desire to kill is conjecture.
The desire to kill is not of itself evil. If you find within yourself no desire to kill in ANY circumstance, then it is you who are aberrant and evil.
Uh ask Jordan Neely DAD where he was all these years. I think you know the answer. Please stop shipping for Alvin Bragg and the race hustlers.
Neely’s dad proved the old adage, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
More like the asshole from the tree.
Yeah, come back and share your experience after you’re attacked in a public space.
Who hasn’t been “attacked in a public space”? Everyone’s been mugged. Mostly you just lose your money and gain some bruises. In the one instance where I won, I did an “arm bar” against the subway pole, not a “chokehold” – you win without causing hurt. That’s the aim.
The Best instance of that aim was a video I saw of some idiot on the side of the road in a lawn chair holding his ex-wife hostage with a six-gun. They brought in the SWAT team. The sharpshooter waited. While the miscreant was waving his gun around, the marksman shot the pistol out of his grip. It flew away, broken into two pieces, no one was hurt. THAT’S my definition of heroic, not that you care.
I have never been mugged, nor have most people in the good old USA. Though I don’t live in NYC where it is apparently normal.
Hmmmm, I’ve been mugged 3 times & each time it was more violent than the last. The SF Bay Area can be a scary place, that’s why I don’t live there anymore. I would have welcomed a Daniel Penny stepping in to help me on those occasions. I’d also like to point out most women present an easier target for muggers than men.
Shot the gun out of his hand without hurting anyone? You’ve been watching too many kiddie westerns from the 1950’s.
If you search on |youtube marksman shoots the pistol out of the man’s hand| you get
“Legendary Columbus sniper shot”
Watch it – and apologize any time you want to
The lunch-money-victim is countering with a video.
As is his policy to grovel to any who threatens, he seems to fantasize about some other policy to aim for the gun in hand.
In the real world, shooters aim for center mass, or with Mossad in hostage citations aim for what the target exposes – equally impressive than shown in his video.
Problem is that Daniel Penny wasn’t armed with a pistol anyway. So he took action to defend others with what he had available. (The drugs coursing thru the assailant did the rest – just like with George Floyd.)
Sugarman’s life policy is to submit to all & any who threaten.
He must be so proud.
Everyone should not have to be subject to being attacked and mugged – it’s not normal in a civilized country. Obviously, we are no longer a civilized country when citizens consider being mugged and attacked as normal and fighting back is considered a crime. Fortunately, the jury disagreed with you…at least this time.
Everyone has been mugged? Where the hell do you get that? And why do you justify it? You seem to want a dystopian, violent, anarchistic society.
Yes, that shit isn’t funny. I’ve been attacked multiple times in sunny downtown San Jose. I just now had some lunatic saying “open the door please.” If i’d opened it it would’ve been a death contest. I have no idea who he is. Probably a lunatic at the wrong address.
I’ve never lived in a place as crazy as San Jose.
That explains a few things about you, Jeff.
Yes, that’s happened to me. The usual suspects, of course. None of them ever beat me, though. Cowards tend to be weak.
oh pullease. get back on those meds.
Sounds like you should have been on the jury then.
What about ” justice” for victims of Neeley , the Asian he pushed , the child he tried to abduct ? Etc etc ??
Sounds like bullshit to me.
Stop whining, Sugarman. It’s unmanly and pathetic. Hope you get tossed on the tracks and everyone on the platform looks on with complete indifference.
Actually, something like that happened. I was going to work in the morning and stopped to change trains at 42 street. It was very crowded. A middle aged black man climbed down onto the tracks and lay down. Nobody said anything – as is usually the case. I put on my best policeman’s voice and yelled across the platform, “Hey! That’s no place to sleep! Get up out of there!”. I don’t know why it worked but he sheepishly climbed back up. A minute later the train rushed by. It would have killed him for sure. Did anyone even then applaud? NOT AT ALL. They were your brothers in spirit.
No Sugy, that wasn’t “something like that” It was just you putting on your whiny voice, Mr. Tough Guy.
If you had only gotten down there with him.
Were you bullied, beaten, and weak as a child? I’ve never seen such an obvious case of projection in my life, Intrepid Tough Guy
Penny is an acquitted hero and you ain’t. Take your leftist virtue signaling and STFU.
Perry killed someone who didn’t need to be killed (he was already restrained). I just told you that I saved someone’s life. In those lights, I am far more of a hero than he. But as for the stfu, you are right – it is worse than useless conversing with you, it is infuriating. So you win this one (as you never did with your father (my guess as to the origin of your mentality))
I’m glad Daniel Penney got off. I was afraid he’d be crucified, in NYC. The guy is a real hero. He protected innocent people from one of the usual suspects. And he’s very handsome.
He’s also a straight white guy which puts him at the bottom of the pile.
And remember, Bragg charged and indicted a Hispanic man, a convenience store clerk, who was fighting for his life against a black thug who wanted to kill him for refusing to let his girlfriend steal a bag of chips. The clerk finally got the thug with a knife thrust. The only thing that prevented Bragg from demanding the rights of Black Privilege to kill was public outrage and the Hispanic guy was himself bipoc.
I heard that Hispanic guy went back to Puerto Rico or Cuba or wherever. Obviously he knew Asshole Bragg is a racist piece of shit and rightly feared for his liberty.
Every time I see fat boy Bragg on TV, I just want to punch his teeth down to his asshole.
“Hawk” Newscum?. I saw him mouthing off on TV. If I ever see him I’l knock his fat face off. I don’t give a shit If somebody is black. You’re all victims to me.
Newscum is obviously hankering for $$$ and one of those mansions–you know, the ones in mostly all white gated communities–BLM officials buy for themselves from contributions of the gullible ignorants
Anyone who has any experience with children knows that the bullied become the worst of bullies if they are given the opportunity.
That’s what the coloured people are doing along with the so called alphabet community.
Not because they were actually bullied but because they have been told they were.
No doubt, but not the whole picture. Bad human behavior has so many and complex causes, of which being bullied is only one. And is bullying is often used to excuse the sins of the formerly bullied.
Lust, impulse control, greed, envy, resentment, self-loathing. I could go on and on.
‘ “Hawk Newsome”, leader of the Black Lives Matter chapter of Greater New York,’ who called for black vigilantism, sounds as nuts as Jordan Neely and his father. He is apparently a lawyer as well, in much the same way Fat Alvin Bragg is a lawyer.
Penny needs to get out of NYC and probably NY as well. His life is probably in danger.
Amazing how lackluster fools cash in on their DEI black privilege & get passed along in class.
I’m sure they both excelled in useless “studies” courses that teach herd-mentality activism.
BLM cheered the pure evil of Oct 7th.
After scamming & spending millions on themselves, without consequence, they already proved they have no moral character. Hence celebrating murder wasn’t surprising.
The “wrong” skin color is BLM’s only motivation, so a brave soul defending others, including blacks, is hated if he’s white. (Kinda makes BLM vile racists, doesn’t it?)
I heard a person on one of the shows saying the father, Neely, abandoned the son soon after birth, a dead-beat father… oh so common. He never kept up with his own son till now… suddenly he care$$$ and I bet egged on by The Race Hustlers!
Isn’t that Incitement? They got Trump for saying “Fight” and they took it out of context and impeached him for inciting a mob… “peacefully and patriotically.”
Who else says FIGHT? Coaches in the locker room: “This is the game we need! You get out there and FIGHT!” Cheerleaders: “Fight! Fight! Fight!” So, the teams get on the field and immediately start fighting the other team. The Cheerleaders join in! (I was hoping some Republican Congresswomen would dress up as cheerleaders to get on the floor and scream, “GIVE ME AN F… ! —- What does it spell? FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!” It would have proven a point that Trump was using Fight in the same context. Nope. The Com-Left Democrats are still using that!)
THIS IS REAL INCITEMENT AND HE SHOULD BE ARRESTED BUT WON’T! NOW… IF HE WAS WHITE…… !
Yeah the Jigroes get a free ride through life in America. That guy is a full on criminal and should be in some butt-pound prison.
I’m so sick of those mother fuckers. Not all of them are like Ben Carson or my Pastor Ron. Let’s just say the truth. Most black males are scumbags.
I love the chicks, though.
Agreed! Calling for vigilantism on the basis of race is tolerated, so long as the race is white or anyone of non-white race belonging to westernkind – who earn the dubious privilege of being white-adjacent.
DEI “lawyers”
Trial by jury is the last institutional ditch in the fight against “woke” tyranny. A jury saved Kyle Rittenhouse from rabid “woke” Wisconsin prosecutors in 2021. Yesterday Kyle posted the following on X: “I understand better than almost anyone the joy Daniel Penny is feeling right now. Today’s verdict speaks for itself—the jury got it right. I pray that Daniel gets to decide the direction of his life, not the media or bad actors. He deserves to live the life he wants to live.”
WHAT THIS REALLY IS:
“I, Alvin Bragg, hereby charge Daniel Penny for being White and for the real Victim for being Black! This is a HATE CRIME. Long Live George Floyd!”
And now, a Civil Trial and I bet the usual race-hustlers are the attorneys!
Bragg obviously getting the playbook from the leader of the Black Supremacist movement… yes, “If I had a son, he would look like Travon!” Barack Obama! And sure enough, The BLM Mobs ready to destroy and I bet, attack Whites in subways while screaming “Whitey! This is revenge for _____!” Garland: “Not a Hate Crime!” With all the videos of the Mobs, witnesses, not one will be arrested.
SMASH AND DASH IN SUBWAYS! The criminals pick their targets, mostly well-dressed women with purses. The subway is only seconds before stopping. They walk to the target. The doors open… THEY GRAB THE PURSE AND RUN OUT… THE DOORS CLOSE! No one dares to run after them. Same in Mall Stores.
Where are the Black leaders exposing this Movement?
Self-defense is dead in NYC.
To be fair, it was dead before this case, It’s been dead in Democrat run holes for years.
Whatever made Penny think he could defend others while being White says a lot about his state of mind.
Of course, I cannot imagine being in a public space in a Demo hole in the first place. I would, could, and I have – spent a lot of time and money to avoid such situations. Anyone who has been attacked by a criminal would.
G-d bless Penny and his family, and hope he settles all of his lawsuits successfully.
A tragedy all around. Who wants to be directly involved in any one’s death, even a Jordan Neely?
When this case is long forgotten Daniel Penny will still have to live with the fact that he was involved in the death of another human being.
Was Jordan Neely actually human? I don’t think he was. The world is better off with him dead. Fuck that piece of filth.
You seem unaquainted with several important facts. First, Penny was not “involved” in Jordan Neely’s death – Neely died from a combination of factors that had nothing to do with Penny (cf. the George Floyd case, in which Floyd died of a bad heart, a lethal level of fentanyl in his blood, and a load of methamphetamine). In both cases, there was no homicide, hence no one could have committed a criminal act.
Second, what on earth makes you think that Penny “wanted” to be “involved” with Neely’s death? He found himself in a situation in which Neely was threatening other people’s lives, and he acted to neutralize that threat. That doesn’t mean he “wanted” to be in that position.
Yes, if you have to use lethal force in self-defense it will probably bother you the rest of your life, but that doesn’t mean you’ve done anything wrong. Penny was a hero, and probably regrets having been put in a situation that required heroism.
My but your finger wags perfectly. Along with all of that pearl clutching. What a total loser you are.
Not to be a downer but just remember, the jury deadlocked on the manslaughter count meaning that one or more of the jurors resolutely voted to convict even though there has probably never been a more solid case of justifiable homicide (protection of others) and lack of causation (Nealy’s death was not proved beyond a reasonable doubt.). And another thing, the judge NEVER should have allowed Penny to be described in questions by the prosecutor to witnesses as “the white man.”. Prima facie reversible error in such a racially charged persecution. The whole prosecution was a disgrace to our justice system, which seems par for the course in New York these days.
The left always inserts itself, after the fact, to legitimize their disastrous policies by attempting to cover up the truth. New York has become a nightmare as a result of the soft on crime and catch and release policies. The radical leftists within the police administration, the medical examiner’s department, the State’s Attorney General, Leticia James and Alvin Bragg District Attorney in Manhattan are all part of the concerted effort to destroy both law enforcement and the legal system (think mastermind billionaire George Soros).
Daniel Penny was a Good Samaritan riding the subway with others who had become duly terrified by Jordon Neely s frightening behavior and violent ranting. HE SHOULD HAVE BEVER BEEN ON THE STREET!! He was a diagnosed schizophrenic, homeless, and a habitual drug user. Dr. Chandru, a forensic pathologist in the State of Texas was called for the defense and shredded the NY Medical Examiner’s autopsy report.
The chokehold did not cause the death,” Dr. Satish Chundru testified.
Chundru said he found the cause of death to be “the combined effects of sickle cell crisis, the schizophrenia, the struggle and restraint, and the synthetic marijuana.”
“Someone schizophrenic, high on K2 and involved in a struggle can die without a chokehold being involved at all, he said. Similarly, he said, if there were no health issues and the chokehold was the only factor, Neely would not have died.”
So the once again, the attempt at ginned-up racial nonsense was pilloried by the facts.
Jordon Neely’s family is filing a lawsuit. REALLY? Where has his family been as he aimlessly walked the streets mentally ill, homeless and drug addicted? Where have they been in getting him help? They quickly point a finger toward Penny without holding themselves accountable for their very mentally ill family member!
Americans are fed up with Blacks absolving themselves and others of their communities from any accountability for these kinds of predatory crimes. One need only get daily news from objective news sources to see the almost daily crime by Blacks on whites and other ethnicities. REALITY IS A BITCH for those trying to hide…Daniel Penny stepped into the fear and terror innocents were experiencing and stopped a madman. It was not death he sought, he simply wanted to keep this man from harming others! and we are grateful for him doing so.
“Black supremacist Hawk Newsome, leader of the Black Lives Matter chapter of Greater New York, denounced the decision outside the courthouse as a victory for ‘white supremacy’ and the ‘KKK,’ and called for black vigilantism against whites.”
Let’s see, if a man who happens to be white restrains a deranged violent man who happens to be black and who is threatening people, the man who did the restraining is a racist.
Yep, makes sense to me.
That was very good news and even a relief that Daniel Penny was found “Not guilty.” Nevertheless, since in really Mr. Penny was actually a hero, he should have been found “Innocent.” Still that’s a good ruling a for the corrupted politically correct US court system.
What more, Penny should never have had charges filed against him in the first place. Instead being arrested sent to court he awarded a medal for the heroic he tool by protecting all those people from that dangerous thug.
Those Marxist members of BLM are having a fit that court ruling. Since they’re so very immature that they can’t take that news without an emotional meltdown, that’s their problem.
They always scream: “No Justice No Peace!” Then when it goes through the court system, if the verdict is different than they want, they go nuts and suddenly against Justice.
Millions will stand with Penny to fight the BLM or other agitators that think they can take revenge on “Whitey”, not happening.
I hope Daniel Penny gets a great book deal.
Did you know that the Arabs used to castrate their male slaves? This is why, today, they don’t have a problem with BLM. 🙂
As sophisticated as Americans consider themselves, they have to deal with the fact that eventually the law of the jungle won’t go away. Violent street thugs are everywhere and the only way to deal with them is with greater violence. Physical threats to peaceful citizens won’t end with reasoning with criminals. This thug was arrested over 40 times and was still on the streets because no one had the courage to stop him. What kind of an outcome did the legal system expect turning loose a violent troublemaker in a supposedly peaceful society? Did they secretly hope that no one would get hurt? Americans try to distance themselves from these thugs by rationalizing that they are not going to get their hands dirty by standing by and complaining about these horrible criminals. Eventually, strong and courageous people don’t want to be targets of violent psychos and they defend themselves. Some say that Penny was a vigilante. Vigilantes practice the violence in their minds before they get out on the streets. Courageous defenders like Penny, do not want violence but according to their personal convictions must act to defend the innocent people in their periphery., regardless of the cost.
If you have a problem with men protecting the innocent, then you are the problem, and I don’t want to live in your beta male world of cowardice. Just stand by with your mouth open and collapse because you might get hurt. No thanks.
I posted the “Legendary Columbus Sniper Shot” as a rejoinder to a detractor, but I did hope that some would imagine doing what I considered heroic, amazing, and kind. Instead Mr Mike Plumb got a 3-0 “thumbs down” and inspired others to imagine shooting in “the center of mass”. I never imagined that could possibly be the reaction to it and, honestly, I’d hate to be imprisoned in such a brain. The reaction to Race was also harsher than I expected. Judging from Thomas Sowell and the like, I had imagined the Right to be more tolerant than it actually is.