Daniel Penny denies responsibility for the Subway chokehold death.

Former Marine Pleads Not Guilty in Fatal Subway Chokehold Case

Daniel Penny, a former U.S. Marine sergeant, appeared in court on Wednesday to plead not guilty to charges of manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. Penny is accused of fatally strangling Jordan Neely, a homeless man, in a chokehold on a New York subway car last month.

Videos recorded by bystanders captured Penny putting Neely in a chokehold from behind for several minutes on May 1 while they were riding on an F train in Manhattan.

Penny initially appeared in court on May 12, facing a charge of second-degree manslaughter. Judge Kevin McGrath released Penny on a $100,000 bond and ordered him to surrender his passport. On June 14, a grand jury voted to indict Penny.

Passengers on the subway car reported that in the minutes before his death, Neely, a 30-year-old former Michael Jackson impersonator who struggled with mental illness, was shouting about his hunger and expressing a willingness to return to jail or die.

Penny claims he acted in self-defense and to protect other passengers, stating that he did not intend to kill Neely. However, his actions have been praised by prominent Republican politicians while protesters have criticized him as a vigilante and labeled Neely’s death as a lynching.

Penny was questioned by police on the day of the incident but was not arrested until 11 days later when he made his initial court appearance.

Neely had a history of homelessness and his mental health deteriorated significantly after his mother was murdered when he was a teenager. He had been arrested multiple times, including a recent incident in 2021 where he punched a 67-year-old woman, causing facial fractures.

Published under: Crime