MANHATTAN, NEW YORK CITY: Daniel Penny, a Marine veteran, has been released on bail following an arraignment on a charge of second-degree manslaughter. The charge stems from an incident in which Penny placed a mentally ill homeless man Jordan Neely in a chokehold inside a subway car while other bystanders assisted in restraining him until he became unresponsive resulting in Neely's death.
The victim's family believes that the charge is too lenient and is advocating for a murder charge instead. "Is that enough for someone who choked somebody out on the train and took their life?" attorney Lennon Edwards asked at a news conference Friday. Meanwhile, a fundraiser has been set up to support Penny's legal fees and defense expenses, which has already raised nearly $700,000 at the time of reporting.
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Jordan Neely's family pushes for murder charge
Neely's family argued that they wanted Penny to be charged with murder because he could have chosen any technique of restraint but "intentionally chose a technique to use that is designed to cut off air." "That’s a choice that he made and he did it intentionally. So we believe that the conviction should be for murder because that’s intentional," Edwards said, as per The Sun.
Penny's legal team established a fundraiser on the Christian website GiveSendGo to cover his legal expenses, including potential civil lawsuits. The fundraiser description portrays Penny as a decorated Marine veteran and college student who acted in defense of others on the subway. The campaign has garnered significant support, with close to $700,000 raised at the time of reporting. The fundraiser is described to be for "a twenty-four-year-old college student and decorated Marine veteran, facing a criminal investigation stemming from him protecting individuals on a NYC subway train from an assailant who later died."
Daniel Penny's legal team raises funds for defense expenses
It goes on to say: "Funds are being raised to pay Mr. Penny’s legal fees incurred from any criminal charges filed and any future civil lawsuits that may arise, as well as expenses related to his defense. All contributions are greatly appreciated." The website GiveSendGo has gained attention previously for its involvement in raising funds for individuals involved in controversial legal cases, such as the acquittal of a man charged with shooting deaths during Black Lives Matter protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in 2020.
Support for Penny's actions came from an anonymous witness, a 66-year-old woman said that she's "praying" for Penny. "And I pray that he gets treated fairly, I really do. Because after all of this ensued, I went back and made sure that I said ‘Thank you’ to him."
