US Marine Corps veteran Daniel Penney caught on camera strangling homeless Jordan Neely on train
A veteran who filmed choking homeless man Joe Danielly on the floor of a New York City subway car on Monday was not identified by Twitter sleuths until four days after the incident, sparking public outrage as the city was charged Protect the murderer.
Daniel Penny, a former U.S. Marine from Long Island, was questioned by police but was not charged even after Neely was pronounced dead at a Manhattan hospital on Monday. His name was also not released to the public, although the city medical examiner ruled on Wednesday that his death from asphyxiation was a homicide, leading activists to accuse the NYPD of protecting the 24-year-old veteran.
Several days of internet sleuthing combined with a Daily Mail headline error reportedly yielded Penny’s name, which amateur investigators were able to quickly confirm through a plethora of yearbook photos. Some wondered why the New York Post and Daily News didn’t publish it, even though they also had Penny’s name.
Michael Jackson impersonator Neely kept throwing rubbish and yelling at passengers on the train before Penny and several others stopped him, claiming he was hungry, hopeless, “Prepare to die.” The photographer who captured the 30-year-old’s death told the New York Daily News that he “He didn’t seem to want to hurt anyone,” Five bystanders called 911 saying he threatened and even assaulted passengers, police said.
The family of the slain actor, who has been arrested 42 times in the past 10 years, most recently for punching a 67-year-old woman in the face at an East Village subway station, bemoaned his inability to get the psychiatric treatment he needed.
The racial dynamics of the killings — Penny is white, Neely is black — spark debate “lynching” From Black Lives Matter activist and racial justice advocate Al Sharpton — a reference to 1980s subway vigilante Bernie Goetz — warns against going “Back to a place where vigilance can be tolerated.” Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tagged Penny “murderer” and his actions “Public Execution” Protests erupted across the city.
District Attorney Alvin Bragg has yet to decide whether to bring the case to a grand jury and possibly charge Penny, a law enforcement source told ABC on Friday, explaining that detectives are still interviewing witnesses.
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