In early May, Jordan Neely, a 30-year-old Black, unhoused man experiencing mental health issues, died after fellow New York City subway passenger Daniel Penny put him in a chokehold for 15 minutes.
A Manhattan grand jury has now indicted Penny, a 24-year-old former Marine, in connection with the killing. It’s not clear what the exact charges are given that the indictment has yet to be unsealed, and he has yet to enter a plea.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office pursued second-degree manslaughter charges, which carry a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison, after interviewing eyewitnesses, 911 callers, and officers at the scene. Penny turned himself over to law enforcement and was released on $100,000 bail following his initial court appearance in May, sparking widespread outcry.
The case has brought to the forefront several of the systemic issues New York and the country are confronting: crime rates, fears about crime, and how politicians are exploiting those fears seem likely to have played a role. For those gathered in the subway to protest Neely’s killing, he’s become a symbol of New York City’s failure to provide an adequate safety net to vulnerable individuals and protect them from danger and criminalization. Racial justice advocates have also called out the initial delays in the city’s decision to pursue charges against Penny as the latest example of violence toward Black Americans seemingly being condoned by the criminal justice system.
“This is about much more than just this one specific case,” said Bill Neidhardt, a Democratic strategist based in New York. “There’s a clear throughline between the endless demonization of unhoused people and mentally ill people and also the relentless campaign to fan the flames of fear about crime in the city.”
Some city officials have declined to condemn Penny throughout the law enforcement investigation and court proceedings. Immediately after the killing, New York City Democratic
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