In a new interview with Jeanine Pirro of FOX NewsSteve Raiser said Penny, 24, “just wanted to help her passengers” on board Jordan Neely, 30,’s Manhattan F train.
The attorney also said his team was shocked when Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg announced charges, despite allegedly being told the process would be slow.
“We were told there would be a grand jury presentation and that would take time.
“It was going to be kind of a deliberate process. He wasn’t going to be rushed. Then all of a sudden we got a call a night before Daniel to surrender,” Raiser said.
The lawyer’s interview comes just days after Penny turned into a prosecutor and hours after a fundraiser for the Navy soared to more than $2 million.
The attorney for Navy veteran Daniel Penny, who was filmed choking a ‘deranged’ man on a New York subway, says his client was ambushed by the charge against him.
In a new interview with FOX News’ Jeanine Pirro, Steve Raiser says his client “just wanted to help his passengers”
A GiveSendGo for Daniel Penny hit $2.3 million on Monday night
In his interview with Pirro, Raiser said the Navy vet had nothing on his mind but to protect himself and those around him.
“When he acted, his mindset was to protect his traveling companions from attack. Neely entering the train and acting very violent. Both physically and with words,” the lawyer said.
Last week, a subway passenger on the train at the time of Neely’s smothered death said the erratic passenger was threatening others on the train.
Raiser said the man’s disturbing behavior had been verified by other passengers and he was disrupting others’ journeys with troubling claims.
‘Say things to the effect, ‘I need certain things. I need food, this or that and if I don’t have it, I don’t care if I go to jail for the rest of my life” and the passengers had in fact said that they interpreted this to mean, when would you go to jail for the rest of your life? If you kill someone. Everyone got the message,” he said.
The lawyer also claimed passengers reported Neely swinging on other people on the train.
Since his arrest, Raiser said Penny has cooperated fully with DA Bragg and the investigation despite being surprised that he was charged.
Raiser claimed prosecutors called their team and said, “He has to go to the police department tomorrow.”
The statement shocked Raiser and Penny. “What do you mean tomorrow?” said the lawyer. “It was going to be a long process. Suddenly it’s tomorrow.
“When he acted, his mindset was to protect his traveling companions from attack. Neely getting on the train and acting very violent,’ Raiser said during the interview.
‘Thank you for protecting the citizens that day,’ one person wrote at a fundraiser for Penny
In the interview, Raiser also denied allegations that the strangulation death of the passenger was racially motivated at the request of Pirro.
“None of this is based on fact. As for racing, that’s just not Danny’s motivation,” he said.
He [Penny] is the one who put himself in danger to save whom? All the people on this train. Blacks, browns, whites. It didn’t matter to Danny. Danny put his life on the line to save all these people,’ the lawyer continued.
“It has nothing to do with race,” he said.
The interview with Penny’s attorney comes as donations continue to pour in for the Navy vet.
Monday, a GiveSendGo organized for its legal defense hit $2.3 million just days after its launch.
More than 47,000 people donated to the campaign and some 34,000 people left prayers and messages of encouragement.
Several anonymous donors contributed $10,000 each.
“Thank you for protecting the citizens that day,” one person wrote.
‘Do the right thing. Dan did. It’s not that hard,” added another.
People attend a vigil at City Hall Park for Jordan Neely on May 11
Penny’s family last week called Manhattan prosecutors for charging their loved one without charging two other men who helped subdue Neely.
While Penny was charged with second-degree manslaughter, the other two men walked free and were never named.
“It’s disgusting,” said Justine Baldwin, Penny’s cousin. New York Post. “Here is a young man who has served our country.
‘What about the other two gentlemen on the subway who were helping him (retain Neely)? They weren’t even named.
Neely’s family, on the other hand, spoke out after his death and demanded that Penny be charged with his murder.
The family also urged New Yorkers not to fear erratic homeless people on the subway, even if they behave in a threatening manner.
