Trump campaign uses footage from Ukraine in attempt to depict Americans suffering from rising housing costs
The Trump campaign used stock footage of a man sitting in a basement, claiming that it was an American unable to afford a home while it was actually filmed in Ukraine 25 miles from the frontline. The dramatic footage shows a man working on his laptop as he shelters from the shelling of the Russian invasion in Zaporizhzhya, Ukraine last year, according to the New York Post. In the ad released on Wednesday, the Trump campaign slammed President Joe Biden for the effect inflation has had on Americans during his time in the White House. To make this argument, instead of using footage of Americans, the Trump campaign used footage from Ukraine, showing the man sitting in a basement as a voiceover claims that young Americans can’t buy homes because of high inflation. Another piece of stock footage used in the video shows a young couple seemingly walking away from a real estate agent. That clip was also filmed in Ukraine, in Lviv, in the western part of the country in 2021 before the war began in February of last year. The Trump campaign ad was entitled Mourning in America and criticised Mr Biden for his handling of the southern US border, the US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, as well as trans issues. As the footage from Ukraine can be seen, the voiceover states: “Under Biden’s unprecedented inflation, the hope of home ownership gone. And young adults, forced to abandon seeking the American dream to live in their parents’ basement longer.” The man behind the footage showing the couple failing to purchase a home told the New York Post that he “can only say bad things about Trump”. The creator said he didn’t want to be identified to avoid affecting his relationship with his stock footage vendor. “But unfortunately, anyone can buy our or another video … I can’t control it,” he told the paper. “I wouldn’t want him to use [the] video in his ad. But rules are rules.” Yevhen Shkolenko owns the company that filmed the footage in the basement in Zaporizhzhya. He told the Post that the man in the footage is an actor but shows what Ukrainians have to deal with as air sirens ring out to warn of an incoming strike by the Russians. “This video was made 100 per cent in Ukraine during war in real sheltered basement in my city Zaporizhzhya, which is 40 km (25 miles) [from the] frontline,” Mr Shkolenko told the paper. “We were one of those who stayed in our city to help people and the army and we continued our work of filming and when we were doing this filming, we went down to the basement many times in order to hide from rocket fire.” The Trump campaign released the attack ad shortly before Donald Trump appeared on CNN for a town hall event that was widely criticised for giving a platform for the former president to spout a litany of lies. During the town hall event in front of a friendly audience, Mr Trump claimed that he would be able to end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours after re-entering the Oval Office on 20 January 2025 simply by speaking to Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom he refused to call a war criminal. Mr Trump also refused to say if he wanted Ukraine to be victorious, instead arguing that he wanted the fighting to cease, adding that calling someone a war criminal might be detrimental to a possible peace process. A former Trump official who worked on his re-election campaign in 2020 told the Post that “as president, Trump bragged about the billions of dollars worth of weapons and aid he sent to Zelensky in Ukraine. Now he’s paying for stock footage from Ukraine to depict the American Dream in his lame campaign ads? What a joke”. The Independent has reached out to the Trump campaign for comment. Read More The danger of America’s ageing politicians The two-word slur that tells us everything we need to know about Donald Trump Trump news – live: Trump defends CNN ratings as E Jean Carroll threatens to sue him again over ‘vile’ remarks The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary
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Daniel Penny surrenders over NYC chokehold death of Jordan Neely
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Ex-Marine surrenders to New York authorities to face charge over Jordan Neely death
The former Marine who held Jordan Neely in a fatal chokehold on a Manhattansubway earlier this month has surrendered to New York authorities to face criminal charges over his death. Daniel Penny, 24, turned himself in to New York police early on Friday morning to be arrested on a second-degree manslaughter charge. He was seen arriving at the NYPD’s 5th Precinct in lower Manhattan just after 8am local time, where he did not respond to any questions from waiting journalists. Following his arrest, he will be arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court later today. He faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted. Attorneys for Mr Penny said in a statement that they are “confident” he will be “fully absolved of any wrongdoing” when all the “facts and circumstances” come to light as they claimed that the former Marine “risked his own life” when he confronted Neely that day. “When Mr Penny, a decorated Marine veteran, stepped in to protect himself and his fellow New Yorkers, his well-being was not assured. He risked his own life and safety, for the good of his fellow passengers,” said the statement from Raiser and Kenniff, shared with The Independent. “The unfortunate result was the unintended and unforeseen death of Mr Neely. We are confident that once all the facts and circumstances surrounding this tragic incident are brought to bear, Mr Penny will be fully absolved of any wrongdoing.” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office confirmed on Thursday that Mr Penny was facing a manslaughter charge over Neely’s death, which led to widespread protests across New York City. “We can confirm that Daniel Penny will be arrested on a charge of Manslaughter in the Second Degree,” a spokesperson for the DA’s office confirmed in a statement to The Independent. “We cannot provide any additional information until he has been arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court, which we expect to take place tomorrow.” On 1 May, a man identified as Mr Penny placed the 30-year-old homeless former street performer in a fatal chokehold for several minutes until he died on the floor of an F train on the Broadway-Lafayette platform in Manhattan. The city’s medical examiner determined Neely’s cause of death was homicide. Neely – who was experiencing a mental health crisis in the days leading up to his death – was known among social work teams involved in outreach to New York’s homeless community. He had numerous interactions with law enforcement and health responders over the years. When he walked into the F train on 1 May, Neely complained of hunger and thirst, according to witnesses and journalist Juan Alberto Vazquez, who posted a video of part of the incident on his Facebook page. Mr Vazquez said Neely threw his jacket to the floor of the train car before another passenger grabbed him from behind in a headlock. Others grabbed at his arms. The widely shared video footage shows Mr Penny and two other men holding Neely to the floor of a train car for several minutes, while Mr Penny grabs Neely in a chokehold. Another passenger can be heard in the video telling the men that his wife was in the military and warned them that placing Neely in a chokehold could kill him. “You don’t have to catch a murder charge,” he said. “You got a hell of a chokehold, man.” A statement from attorneys for Mr Penny on 5 May said Mr Penny “was involved in a tragic incident ... which ended in the death of Jordan Neely.” “When Mr Neely began aggressively threatening Daniel Penny and the other passengers, Daniel, with the help of others, acted to protect themselves, until help arrived. Daniel never intended to harm Mr Neely and could not have foreseen his untimely death,” according to the statement. Attorneys for Neely’s family said the statement from Mr Penny’s legal team was neither “an apology nor an expression of regret” but “character assassination and a clear example of why he believed he was entitled to take Jordan’s life.” Neely’s death has sparked widespread demands for support for homeless and mentally ill New Yorkers, as advocates and lawmakers condemned what they characterised as an act of vigilantism in a city that has marginalised and targeted its most vulnerable residents with violence. Within the week after his death, NYPD officers have arrested at least 24 people – including a photojournalist, targeted by a high-ranking police official – at protests and vigils demanding an arrest. In his remarks on 10 May, more than one week after Neely’s death, Mayor Eric Adams did not mention how Neely died or discuss the events surrounding his death, but issued his strongest statements yet in the wake of the incident, in contrast to his initial remarks in its aftermath. “Jordan Neely did not deserve to die,” he said. “A New Yorker who struggled with tragedy, trauma and mental illness, a man whose last words were crying for help.” Mr Adams outlined his administration’s response to people experiencing homelessness and mental health distress, including legislation proposed to lawmakers in Albany, the creation of outreach teams, and a controversial policy that allows authorities to involuntarily hospitalise people who are considered too mentally ill to care for themselves. Read More Jordan Neely – latest: Daniel Penny to surrender in New York today on second-degree manslaughter charge Daniel Penny: Everything we know about ex-Marine filmed choking Jordan Neely in fatal subway incident ‘Jordan Neely did not deserve to die’: Eric Adams addresses death of homeless New Yorker after fatal chokehold
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