Regardless of the seen presence of police in New York Metropolis’s subway system, there are nonetheless cases of New Yorkers taking it upon themselves to both defend or dole out justice throughout their commutes, which these days has meant a lethal finish for homeless people.
White ex-marine Daniel Penny, 24, was launched into notoriety after he choked Jordan Neely, 30, a Black Michael Jackson impersonator who struggled with homelessness and psychological sickness, to demise in Might on the subway. Penny was finally charged with manslaughter, indicted by a grand jury, arraigned on Might 12, and instantly launched on $100,000 bail.
Penny has claimed self protection in his case for preserving Neely in a 15-minute chokehold after Neely was shouting at passengers and begging for meals and cash on the practice.
“A grand jury has returned a real invoice within the case in opposition to Daniel Penny. The Supreme Court docket arraignment will likely be held on June 28 in Half 42. We can not remark additional till the arraignment takes place,” mentioned Manhattan District Legal professional’s Workplace Press Secretary Doug Cohen about updates within the case.
Grand jury indictments are mandated by New York state regulation for felony prices.
In a letter to Mayor Eric Adams, 45 organizations proceed to “condemn” his response to Neely’s killing, saying that his administration has created an surroundings that led to Neely’s demise by stoking fears of the subway and “incorrectly linking homelessness and psychological well being with crime and hazard.”
Rev. Al Sharpton, founder and president of the Nationwide Motion Community (NAN), who gave Neely’s eulogy, condemned Penny’s “vigilantism.”
“The Manhattan grand jury noticed proper via his false narrative by voting to maneuver this case ahead. Whereas they need to be saluted for this righteous step, we want the cost would have mirrored what this actually was: homicide,” mentioned Sharpton in an announcement. “NAN will proceed to watch this case to make sure this killer is held accountable and there’s justice for Jordan.”
Observers cost that Penny’s vigilantism has seemingly opened a floodgate by setting a kind of priority the place subway crime is worried.
In a separate incident on the J practice in Brooklyn final week, Jordan Williams, 20, a Black Fedex employee from Queens, fatally stabbed “erratic” Devictor Ouedraogo, 36, who was reportedly behaving menacingly towards passengers and punched Williams and his girlfriend, in accordance with reporting from CBS.
Not like Penny, Williams didn’t have bail set at $100,000. He was, nonetheless, arrested instantly after the stabbing demise of Ouedraogo, whereas Penny was allowed to stroll free after Neely died.
Williams’s legal professional was fast to attract comparisons between this and Penny’s case, asking for truthful remedy no matter his shopper’s pores and skin shade.
When requested in regards to the disparity between the 2 circumstances, Adams denied duty.
“That course of is past my management,” he mentioned. “We have now a prison justice system. I actually respect our prison justice system. It doesn’t at all times get the outcomes that I would like personally, however it’s a system, and that system goes to run its course. And it is vitally difficult to have a look at case A and say, ‘Why did this occur right here,’ and case B, ‘Why didn’t it occur right here?’
“That’s extraordinarily difficult to do. From a distance, that’s how individuals reply and perceive. I perceive that. But when our prison justice system operated on that, that will be horrifying for me.”
(Extra reporting from Amsterdam Information reporter Tandy Lau.)Ariama C. Lengthy is a Report for America corps member and writes about politics for the Amsterdam Information. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps hold her writing tales like this one; please take into account making a tax-deductible reward of any quantity immediately by visiting https://bit.ly/amnews1.
