AP Photo

A Manhattan jury this morning found Marine veteran and subway hero Daniel Penny not guilty in the choking death of Jordan Neely.

The jury acquitted Penny of criminally negligent homicide, which could have cost him four years in prison, in Neely’s chokehold death aboard a crowded uptown F train in May 2023. The judge in the case tossed the original charge of second-degree manslaughter last Friday after jurors could not reach a unanimous verdict on the charge.

Penny was riding the subway when Neely—a man with a long history of mental health issues and violent outbursts—began threatening passengers. Witnesses described Neely’s behavior as erratic and frightening. Penny acted decisively, restraining Neely in a chokehold to prevent what he and others clearly believed was a potential attack. Tragically, Neely died.

Throughout the case, the prosecution and defense differed sharply on the causes of Neely’s death, the appropriateness of using deadly physical force to protect passengers and the validity of defense claims that Penny’s actions were justified under New York law. In the end, the defense apparently made a better case to the jurors, who handed down the not guilty verdict.

The prosecution of Penny sent a chilling message to all Americans: If you step up to stop violence, you might become the next defendant. At the very least, it told us that in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s New York, the safest course of action is to do nothing. Let the chaos unfold, keep your hands to yourself and pray the police arrive before anyone gets seriously hurt.

Had the jury found Penny guilty of either manslaughter or negligent homicide, that message would have been hammered home in the minds of New Yorkers, as well as interested observers across the country. The not guilty verdict, on the other hand, instills the notion that seeing others in danger and acting in a heroic manner still represents the “American way,” where able citizens help those who are unable to defend themselves.  

To be sure, prosecuting Penny wasn’t about justice—rather, it was about politics. It was about sending a message that the powers that be were more interested in virtue-signaling than in protecting their citizens.

Because of that, the verdict brought mixed reactions from observers in the political realm, with several who have opposed Penny’s prosecution from the very beginning feeling vindicated by the decision.

One Republican New York City Councilman, Joe Borelli, saw the not guilty verdict as an indictment of District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who many have criticized soundly for prosecuting Penny.

“The verdict in this case underscores nothing other than the perverse sense of justice held by Alvin Bragg,” told the New York Post. “Every New Yorker is fearful on the subway and had no problem understanding the context of Daniel Penny’s actions. The district attorney should resign in shame.”

In the end, a conviction of Penny would have been a devastating slap in the face to him and the many people he protected on that subway last May. The acquittal sends an entirely different message: It’s still appropriate to protect your fellow Americans from danger without going to jail for doing so.

107 COMMENTS

  1. This guy was supposedly in and out of custody for a long time before he did what he did and had really severe mental problems. He may well have been a victim, but in reality it’s because he wasn’t committed before he met his demise.

          • Neelys ‘father’ … yeah, the term ‘father’ is greatly misapplied here. Neely was living on the streets, had a drug habit, had severe mental health problems. His father abandoned him as a child, then placed him in foster care after his mother’s murder when he was a teenager, and did not care about him while he was homeless or when he was arrested 40’ish times for various crimes, and for the rest of his life until he died. Then suddenly when there is a lawsuit in the making against Penny he gets rounded up with the rest of the people who should have been helping Neely all that time but didn’t give a darn about him …to say “I miss my son” and “this system is rigged.”

            h ttps://x.com/greg_price11/status/1866167266272002326

            Who Cares About Jordan Neely?

            h ttps://townhall.com/columnists/miacathell/2024/12/09/who-cares-about-jordan-neely-n2648784

      • His father is suing Penny already. Between that and the legal expenses and sheer stress and life disruption, I don’t think Penny got away free and clear. NYC is best avoided.

        • BLM is pushing and supporting him to sue. ya can see the local BLM terrorist in the video with him and the lawyer is a BLM lawyer.

          • BLM can’t sue, they don’t have standing. so they get a family member to do it, but its really BLM by proxy so they can spew in court and get donations and get media attention.

      • “Who did he lay hands on?”

        He threatened others in the subway car with physical violence.

        If you do that, it is perfectly reasonable to take them at their word, and physically restrain them until law enforcement can respond…

        • “He threatened others in the subway car with physical violence”

          So just a spoken threat authorizes someone to physically assault another and kill them?

          Really?

          “it is perfectly reasonable to take them at their word, and physically restrain them until law enforcement can respond… “

          He did not just “physically restrain them until law enforcement can respond“, he killed the individual who had not physically assaulted anyone on the train.

          So you’re saying if someone threatens to ‘whip yer ass!’ it is “perfectly reasonable” to kill them even if they haven’t laid a hand on you?

          So summary execution for pre-crime is “perfectly reasonable”, fascinating.

          This means if a husband threatens his wife, it is perfectly reasonable for her to kill him.

          Or is that somehow ‘different’?

          • Really?
            You will die on whichever hill makes you the biggest contrarian, huh?
            This man will never stop in his pursuit to be the edgy antigun pseudo-intellectual.

            • Nailed it. miner is a living, breathing condemnation of the modern education system.

              NYC is a very left leaning, liberal place. Bragg is a leftards dream for a DA. And yet that jury found the man not guilty.

          • Well, MajorIdiot, you are clearly too mentally unhinged to understand reality, but . . . if someone who is physically capable of doing you serious bodily harm threatens (loudly) to do that, and acts in an aggressive, physically-intimidating manner, a REASONABLE person might conclude that that person might do you (or others) harm. THAT is what is known as the “reasonable man” standard in law. I realize you are too effing STUPID to understand this concept, but people are allowed, LEGALLY, to act on their REASONABLE concerns. (I don’t blame you for your abject stupidity, it seems to be endemic in Leftist political theology)).

            I DO NOT have to wait until someone starts beating me/shooting me/stabbing me to act in defense of myself or others. I (and probably everyone else on this site) would be happy to explain to you why that is an objectively stupid standard to ATTEMPT to impose.

            We had teYstimony from an experienced medical professional that Daniel Penny’s chokehold was not the proximate cause of Neely’s death, but IT DOESN’T MATTER. If concealed carry were an actual thing in NY (it isn’t), and Penny had pulled a gun and SHOT the deranged, drugged-out lunatic, instead of (perhaps) administering a not-precisely-calculated submission hold . . . what would be the difference??? Legally, there is none (OK, to be fair, there is the issue of whether a chokehold is “deadly force”, but anyone with the IQ of a turnip knows that it CAN be). IF you are legally justified, under the “reasonable man” standard, in feeling like you are in danger of death or serious injury, you are allowed to respond with force, up to and including lethal force.

            Again, you are too stupid to understand either the standard of review OR the possible necessity of a forceful response, but trust me, that is the legal standard . . . you total, drooling, mouth-breathing f*cktard. I wasn’t on the jury. I have to rely on the evidence and testimony that even the idiotically Leftist news media reported, but that evidence made it clear to me (and to most people with a functioning cerebral cortex) that Daniel Penny reacted to a threatening situation in a REASONABLE manner . . . and that is the legal standard for self-defense. It is sad . . . no, PATHETIC, that you would attempt to argue against that, but it is certainly “on brand” for you and all your Leftist/fascist ‘fellow travelers’.

            You are a brainless, indoctrinated Leftist/fascist moron, MajorIdiot, and you are mentally incapable of being anything else. I get it that you are indoctrinated idiot (you prove it to us on the daily), but I marvel at your evident PRIDE in being an idiot. Work on that, would ya????

          • Neely was screaming that he was going to kill defenseless woman and children confined in that car with him. They could not flee. Nobody was obliged to wait and find out if he was serious. A summary execution was appropriate.

    • Are you trying to shame us into silence? It won’t work, because this case has EVERYTHING to do with guns.

      Concealed and open carry are illegal in NYC. If Penny was not there that day, Neely could have killed any one of the sheeple in that train car. Or multiples. Under the US Constitution, EVERY adult on that train should have been allowed to carry a firearm on that day, and they should have been allowed to use them against Neely.

      It’s about the right to defend one’s self and neighbors from a danger.

      Penny just happened to have the skills and strength to stop Neely while unarmed. But most people wouldn’t be at Penny’s level…and they STILL have the right to defend themselves.

      So it has EVERYTHING to do with firearms and the 2nd amendment.

      • Not trying to shame anyone. I would have said the same thing if someone posted about a rule change in Major League Baseball.

        I understand your point about the lack of legal armed self-defense in NY being tangentially related but, bandwidth is limited and I come here for gun news.

        • MyName,

          You have limited bandwidth, and can ONLY spare time for actual “gun news”????

          Here’s a thought, Chief . . . just scan the thumbnails of the articles before you open them, and only read the ones that are just “gun news”!!! You’re welcome, and I won’t even send you a bill for that advice!

            • I mean, seriously, no held a metaphorical gun to your head to force you to read this article, just skip the ones that don’t interest you…

              • Geoff,

                He PURPORTS to be a POTG, but if you go back and review his actual comments, he’s mostly a MajorIdiot clone troll. I will NOT “play nice” with these lying idiots any longer – I owe them zero respect or “civility” when they (a) haven’t earned it, and (b) don’t post comments that DESERVE civility or respect. Like MajorMoron, he can go eff right the h*ll off – he wants to post idiocy; I will call him on it.

            • MyName,

              You’re welcome, and (as usual), I won’t even charge you for it.

              IF (and I seriously doubt it) you are an actual POTG, then act like it. Personally, your posting history makes you sound more like a deranged, MajorLiar wannabe.

              “If you don’t like abortions, don’t get one.” “If you don’t like guns, don’t buy one.” Do you even understand the analogy??? NO ONE is forcing you to read ANY post on this site, so . . . STFU. Seriously, your original comment was one of the stupidest com”ments in the history of this site (at least for the 6+ years I’ve been a lurker or a follower).

              Samuel Langhorne Clemens famously said “It is better to keep your mouth shut and let people think you are stupid than to open it and remove all doubt.” Ponder that, Chief.

        • No it’s not and no you don’t otherwise you wouldn’t have spent .more than hours worth of time filling this post with useless comments and replies.

        • Additionally, Neely had PUNCHED an old lady in the face.

          I still say this was a 2A issue. Neely should have been shot by any one of a dozen people on that car.

          • “Neely had PUNCHED an old lady in the face”

            So you’re saying Daniel Penney observed Neely punch a woman in the face and that’s what prompted his assault of Neely?

        • Jury seemed to believe the threat of imminent force from the subway crazy was sufficient to clear justified use of force by a third party in NYC. Any further argument you have is irrelevant.

          • miner is doing his best to keep the stupidity of the left front and center. He helped to defeat harris and now he’s paving the way for the gop in 26 and 28.

          • “the threat of imminent force“

            Only a “threat”?

            He felt threatened so he killed the man?

            So an execution based on pre-crime, got it.

            • Did I stutter? Yes you disingenuous manipulator. Given the totality of the situation and the context involved (not that you are capable of honestly involving such things with your agenda) physical force was justified against the maniac. Sucks he died but his path and it’s results were a mix of his choices and the state’s inability to properly handle the mentally ill and not the fault of the accused.

            • “He felt threatened so he killed the man?

              So an execution based on pre-crime, got it.”

              100% false

              Penny didn’t kill anyone.

              Neeley didn’t die while in the choke hold, he died as a result of the effects of his K2 drug use, after the choke hold was eased up and released.

              K2 use, especially to the point of ‘intoxication’ (or overdose), can cause one under (or as a result of) physical exertion (i.e the struggle) to stop breathing, go unconscious, and then die. K2 use can also cause violent and psychotic/irrational behavior. The coroner who performed the autopsy didn’t check the drug report, she assumed the choke hold did it by cutting off air supply after watching the video and assuming the choke hold was still compressing and it wasn’t. In reality its not clear from the video, and the coroner should have taken that into account and should have looked at the drug report before she made her finding. After the defense expert saw the drug report, the expert found Neelys actions and death was consistent with K2 use and it was and K2 has a long history in research and reality of causing this kind of behavior and death.

              Witnesses corroborated that Neely was still breathing and struggling somewhat while Penny had him and others were assisting in restraining Neely, and further corroborated that Penny was not squeezing Neelys neck and had eased up on the choke hold while Neely was still breathing. But after he was released, police arrived and found Neely unconscious and not breathing and tried CPR and transported him the to the hospital where he was announced dead after arrival at the hospital.

              Jury found him not guilty. Penny didn’t kill anyone.

      • I suppose but, still doesn’t involve guns. I recognize that this is a pro 2A audience, myself included but, the name of the site is, after all, The Truth About Guns.

        • Maybe they should rename it to ‘The Truth About Guns And Second Amendment Stuff And Other Stuff Too Maybe’ so you will not be so confused.

          • I’m not confused. I really don’t get the sturm und drang anyway since my original post was, in fact, phrased as a question.

            I guess we will all probably survive.

              • That’s okay, I’ll be your huckle– I mean, Smart Alec.

                It’s related. And it SHOULD have been a DGU. In a subway car. With suppressors.

                No way should a man come home from his military service only to have to defend a bunch of sheeple on a train car.

                They SHOULD have been able to stand up for themselves because it’s their God-given right.

                That’s my smart alec story, and I’m sticking to it.

              • “And it SHOULD have been a DGU“

                So who was physically assaulted? Other than the chokehold killing.

              • “Other than the chokehold killing.”

                100% false

                There was no ‘chokehold killing’ and Penny didn’t kill anyone.

                Neeley didn’t die while in the choke hold, he died as a result of the effects of his K2 drug use, after the choke hold was eased up and released.

                K2 use, especially to the point of ‘intoxication’ (or overdose), can cause one under (or as a result of) physical exertion (i.e the struggle) to stop breathing, go unconscious, and then die. K2 use can also cause violent and psychotic/irrational behavior. The coroner who performed the autopsy didn’t check the drug report, she assumed the choke hold did it by cutting off air supply after watching the video and assuming the choke hold was still compressing and it wasn’t. In reality its not clear from the video, and the coroner should have taken that into account and should have looked at the drug report before she made her finding. After the defense expert saw the drug report, the expert found Neelys actions and death was consistent with K2 use and it was and K2 has a long history in research and reality of causing this kind of behavior and death.

                Witnesses corroborated that Neely was still breathing and struggling somewhat while Penny had him and others were assisting in restraining Neely, and further corroborated that Penny was not squeezing Neelys neck and had eased up on the choke hold while Neely was still breathing. But after he was released, police arrived and found Neely unconscious and not breathing and tried CPR and transported him the to the hospital where he was announced dead after arrival at the hospital.

                Jury found him not guilty. Penny didn’t kill anyone.

            • Don’t worry MyName, if Debbie can post here you are welcome to also. Enjoy! Just make sure to post about racism, guns, racism, guns, racism, guns, adnauseum.

    • What more 2A story would you like? Daniel Penny use his Arms to Keep a bad guy from Infringing on the Right of the People on that subway car. Never seen the word “gun” in the 2nd. Am I missing something?

    • What does your comment have to do with guns?
      What did your comment accomplish?
      Do you waste time daily making such comments?

      • My comment was a question.

        Sorry everyone for the distraction – thought the question might prompt a conversation but, apparently I’m the bad guy here.

        Sorry again. I’ll try not to question editorial decisions in the future.

        • “I’ll try not to question editorial decisions in the future“

          Comply, Citizen!

          Or you won’t be a citizen much longer…

          “Trump Vows to Deport U.S. Citizens in New Immigration Policy
          Corbin Bolies
          Media Reporter
          Published Dec. 8 2024 2:23PM EST

          Trump told Meet the Press‘ Kristen Welker that he wanted to avoid the family separation scandal that plagued his first administration. But to do so, he said, will require mixed-immigration families—those with undocumented immigrants with children who are U.S. citizens—to leave together.

          “I don’t want to be breaking up families, so the only way you don’t break up the family is you keep them together and you have to send them all back,” he said.“

          • minor49iq…I thought it was Tom Homan who said that about keeping families together by deporting illegal immigrant families together? If your self serving democRat pals biden/harris would have left the border in the condition they stole/received it there would be no upcoming illegal migrant tough love. Obviously Nov. 5 proved America knows who and what party is responsible for open borders, inflation, crime, etc. Your time would be better spent warning disgruntled democRats about making threats against POTUS DJT.

          • So what is the problem? Deporting illegals and questionably legal anchor babies they exploit to stay here? Good luck finding meaningful opposition to behaving like the rest of the world on that one.

            • “questionably legal anchor babies“

              You term the Constitution’s grant of birthright citizenship as ‘questionable’?

              Way to support the United States Constitution, you go patriot!

              “Good luck finding meaningful opposition to behaving like the rest of the world on that one“

              So you believe Trump’s claim that America is the only nation that offers birthright citizenship?
              You folks will believe anything he spouts, amazing.

              Perhaps you might consider “doing your own research!” to save embarrassing yourself.

              “The following countries have unrestricted birthright citizenship: Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chad, Child, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Fiji, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Lesotho, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, the United States, Uruguay, and Venezuela.“

              • Where in the constitution does it say foreign invaders are entitled to their children being citizens? I will wait.

              • lol. Aren’t those all countries we conveniently exclude when talking about ‘gun violence’ stats because they’re not ‘1st world’ nations?

                Now we wanna be just like them. lol.

    • The question is the answer, but you posted anyway knowing the answer (that this site if FAR more than firearms themselves).

    • Not so sure.

      I remember an episode where he charged a gun company because a spree killer bought one of their gun and illegally modified it to full auto. He believed it was too easily modified to full auto. His closing argument was about how it was the companies fault that this psycho fired a lot more bullets than he should have into a crowd of college girls. After the bog standard emotional NYC jury declared guilt, the judge threw out the conviction.

  2. The mormons had to move 150 years ago, because they were being murdered and when they defended themselves. The authorities arrested them and hung them from trees.

    And the blacks in the south also had to move, if they tried to defend themselves against the klue klux klan. They also were lynched.

    People need to face the truth. In some states, in some cities, in some jurisdictions in the United States. You are simply not allowed to defend yourself.

    You can either not defend yourself. Hope you never have to defend yourself. Or you can move. Or you can become active in politics and work to change the system where you live now.

    If you want your freedom? It will require eternal vigilance.

    If you listen to the libertarians. You will soon lose your freedom.

    • fyi

      “Why it’s Ok to not vote.” Catherine Mangu Ward. A great libertarian. Video 50 min long.

      So voting, being involved in the election process is just a waste of time.

      And I am also told that a “national divorce” is not a solution. By the same people who tell me to not vote, that it’s a waste of time.

      But they will tell me to enjoy all that legal butt sex and drugs. They work so hard to make a reality.

  3. Daniel Penny’s Acquittal Won’t Undo The Damage His Show Trial Caused.

    h ttps://thefederalist.com/2024/12/09/daniel-pennys-acquittal-wont-undo-the-damage-his-show-trial-caused/

  4. Hopefully; Daniel Penny will file a defamation lawsuit against attorney Benjamin Crump and the entire cadre of race hustling poverty pimps who incited the malicious prosecution against him.

  5. BLM Activists Call for Violence After Penny Verdict. (yep, leave it up to the left winger for violence, everything from verbal to physical violence, even against kids in trying to transform them to an opposite gender. This should make Miner49er very happy. I wonder how much property damage they will do this time, last time it was around $2 Billion overall. I wonder if Kamala will raise donations to get them out of jail this time? Are we going to subject to another round of lies from the left wing media trying to excuse these terrorists as ‘peaceful’ and ‘mostly peaceful’? Will their upper echelon leaders rake in enough cash from donations again to be able to maintain the lavish life styles their last BLM con job enabled them to have with the donations from that?)

    h ttps://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2024/12/09/blm-activists-call-for-violence-after-penny-verdict-n2648795?utm_medium=widget&utm_source=slider

  6. Of Course the Associated Press Reported the Daniel Penny Verdict This Way.

    “Jordan Neely wasn’t simply a ‘subway rider.’ He was a career criminal who was threatening to kill passengers on the train in May 2023, which is why Marine Daniel Penny stepped in to subdue him and prevent Neely from doing harm to innocent people.

    ‘Neely’s record has 42 prior arrests, dating between 2013 and 2021. They include four for alleged assault, while others involved accusations of transit fraud and criminal trespass. At the time of his death, Neely had one active warrant for an alleged assault in connection with a 2021 incident,’ Newsweek reported in May 2024.”

    h ttps://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2024/12/09/of-course-the-associated-press-reported-the-daniel-penny-verdict-this-way-n2648788

    (In the text of the story, the AP falsely accuses Penny of “vigilantism,” and portrays Neely’s father as a caring man who lost a son he was close to — another opposition to the facts.)

    Jordan Neely’s father Andre Zachary, who abandoned him as a child, placed him in foster care after his mother’s murder when he was a teenager, and did not care about him while he was homeless says “I miss my son” and “this system is rigged.”

    h ttps://x.com/greg_price11/status/1866167266272002326

    • Who Cares About Jordan Neely?

      h ttps://townhall.com/columnists/miacathell/2024/12/09/who-cares-about-jordan-neely-n2648784

  7. So ya bought a gun or ammo and used your bank account debit card or ya supported Trump, well…. New Report Exposes Extensive Government Spying on Bank Accounts.

    “A new report released by the House Judiciary Committee, in partnership with the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, reveals extensive violations and abuse of the law by the federal government.

    According to congressional investigators, the FBI abused the Bank Secrecy Act in order to work with banks to target opponents of the Biden administration and Trump supporters.

    …”

    h ttps://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2024/12/09/new-report-exposes-extensive-government-spying-on-bank-accounts-n2648783

  8. “The prosecution of Penny sent a chilling message to all Americans: If you step up to stop violence, you might become the next defendant. At the very least, it told us that in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s New York, the safest course of action is to do nothing. Let the chaos unfold, keep your hands to yourself and pray the police arrive before anyone gets seriously hurt.”

    Here’s an even better idea – stay the hell out of that s##t show of a city, or for that matter, the entire state.

    • Remarkably NY actually has that covered under article 35. This “should” have ended after the investigation of the initial claim of self defense but welcome to NY and see also why stand your ground laws are utterly imperative when judges can be bought by hostile foreign (and domestic) interests that abhor the idea of liberty.

    • When they get funding from outside interests till then just going to bitch online and maybe in a few town meetings.

        • Will not apply as much for the south……but then again how much of the south saw violent protests even as bad as Albany NY.(can’t imagine why 😋) Yeah temperature does play a big role up here but even then we have had winter schennagans over the years (typically G8/G20 related stuff)

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