Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is reportedly charging the commuter who put a deranged passenger in a fatal chokehold on the New York subway earlier this month.
24-year-old Daniel Penny will be arrested on second-degree manslaughter charges for the death of Jordan Neely.
“We can confirm that Daniel Penny will be arrested on a charge of manslaughter in the second degree,” said a spokesperson for Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg. “We cannot provide any additional information until he has been arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court, which we expect to take place tomorrow.”
The now-viral incident occurred on May 1 when Neely acted erratically aboard a subway and was placed in a chokehold by Penny. The former Marine held him there with the assistance of other passengers. Neely later died from strangulation, and his death was ruled a homicide by the city’s medical examiner.
Lawyers for Penny said in a statement on Friday that he acted in self-defense and did not intend to injure 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,” his lawyers said. “Daniel never intended to harm Mr. Neely and could not have foreseen his untimely death.”
Joshua Steinglass has been chosen for the Neely case by Bragg, who has taken on a number of high-profile cases since assuming office in 2022. Steinglass is a seasoned assistant district attorney who recently secured a tax fraud conviction of the Trump Organization.
Leading political leaders like Rev. Al Sharpton urged Bragg to file charges against Penny, adding to the pressure on the progressive Manhattan prosecutor to take action.
On Thursday, City Council members called for Penny’s arrest, describing Neely’s death as a racist murder and criticizing Mayor Eric Adams for not speaking about the incident.
“We all viewed a lynching for 15 minutes, we understand that was a crime,” said Council Member Kevin Riley, co-chair of the body’s Black, Latino and Asian Caucus, at a press conference outside City Hall. “When it happens to us, we don’t get the same justification or the same leeway as our counterparts … I just want the same level of respect that we give other people for Black people.”
