Penny acquitted in NYC subway choking death

Daniel Penny outside New York City courtroom in choking death case — Penny (*pictured above*) put Neely, a homeless subway entertainer, in a chokehold

(Image credit: Alex Kent / Getty Images)

What happened

A New York City jury Monday found Daniel Penny, a former Marine and architecture student, not guilty of negligent homicide in the 2023 choking death of Jordan Neely. Penny, 26, had put 30-year-old Neely, a Black homeless subway entertainer with a history of mental illness, in a chokehold after he acted erratically in a subway car.

Who said what

Neely's death "prompted a national debate over the line between self-defense and vigilantism," The Wall Street Journal said. Prosecutors said Penny's "response was excessive," keeping Neely in a chokehold "even after the man was subdued and bystanders urged him to let go."

Penny's lawyers disputed that Neely died from choking but centered their defense on the "claim that he acted to protect other subway passengers," The Washington Post said. The case turned Penny into a "conservative symbol for citizen crime-fighting."

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What next?

"I just want to say I miss my son," said Neely's father, Andre Zachary. "The system is rigged." A lawyer for the family said their "call to action is to take care of each other," since "we can't rely on the system to do it for us."

Rafi Schwartz has worked as a politics writer at The Week since 2022, where he covers elections, Congress and the White House. He was previously a contributing writer with Mic focusing largely on politics, a senior writer with Splinter News, a staff writer for Fusion's news lab, and the managing editor of Heeb Magazine, a Jewish life and culture publication. Rafi's work has appeared in Rolling Stone, GOOD and The Forward, among others.