A woman who saw Navy veteran Daniel Penny put Jordan Neely in a fatal chokehold has called him a ‘hero’ who protected other passengers who were ‘scared for their lives’ when Neely, a mentally ill homeless man, started shouting and threatening them in May. 1.
Penny, 24, is sentenced to 15 years in prison for second-degree manslaughter for choking Neely.
Despite an outpouring of public support and testimony from others on the train who say he acted out of bravery, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office is pursuing the prosecution.
One of the women on the train was an unidentified 66-year-old woman who had previously come to Penny’s defense.
Now another tells how Penny protected them.
Daniel Penny, 24, faces 15 years in prison for putting Jordan Neely, 30, in a fatal chokehold
On May 1, Penny put Neely in a fatal chokehold on a New York City subway. Neely had threatened the passengers
“It was self-defense, and I believe in my heart that he saved a lot of people that day who could have been hurt,” she said. FoxNews.
The woman, also in her 60s, said she was reading her book in peace on the train when she heard Neely start screaming.
‘He said, ‘I don’t care if I have to kill an f, I will. I’ll go to jail, I’ll take a bullet.’ I look at where we are on the subway, in the sardine tin, and I’m like, “OK, we’re between stations. There’s nowhere we can go.”
Penny’s attorney Steve Raiser says he was acting in self-defense
“People on that train, we were scared. We were afraid for our lives.
Penny, she said, waited until the last minute to bring Neely down.
By the time the train pulled into Broadway-Lafayette station, Neely was being held up by Penny and two others.
Penny continued to hold him back, even though passers-by warned her that he was in danger of killing him.
A video of the moment was widely viewed and sparked protests, allegations of racism and an outcry in New York.
But the eyewitness says Penny was “distraught” upon realizing Neely had died.
“You should have seen what Mr. Penny looked like. He was upset. He was very, very, very visibly distressed. And he didn’t go. He didn’t run. He stayed.
Neely’s aunt and father say he was hard to pin down because he was homeless. Neely’s criminal record included 42 arrests, including for assaulting people on the subway
“Nobody wants to kill anyone. Mr. Penny didn’t want to kill this man. It took three men to restrain Mr. Neely. He was struggling,” she said.
The woman, who described herself as a “woman of color”, said race had nothing to do with what happened on the train.
“It’s not about race. It’s about people of all colors who were very, very scared and a man who stepped in to help them.
“Race is used to divide us.”
She said New York – a city she has lived in for 50 years – is starting to look like a “third world country”.
“I miss the city under Giuliani’s law and order. When it comes to exposing people or subjecting them to violent behavior, the people in power who are supposed to protect us are not.
Penny’s lawyers raised $2.6 million through a GiveSendGo page.
They say he was just trying to protect the others on the train. Thousands more agree.
