Daniel Penny’s Acquittal: How the Left’s Focus on Race Ignores the Reality of the Case
The Left managed to ignore the threat Neely had posed to the other passengers on that fateful day, and focused solely on the color of Neely’s skin.
In May 2023, Jordan Neely, a 30-year-old mentally ill homeless man under the influence of K2, a potent synthetic marijuana, boarded a Manhattan subway car and shouted death threats at passengers. Daniel Penny, a 24-year-old Marine veteran and architecture student, acted swiftly to subdue Neely by placing him in a chokehold. Tragically, Neely later died.
While Neely’s death was undeniably unfortunate, passengers expressed gratitude for Penny’s decisive action in neutralizing what they perceived as a grave threat. But for the fact that Penny is white and Neely was black, that would have been that.
The public was shocked two weeks later when New York County District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office charged Penny with manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide.
At the time, Neely was reportedly on the city’s “Top 50” list—a designation by a task force monitoring individuals deemed of significant concern, as noted by The New York Times.
It was a case that never should have been brought and on Monday, a Manhattan jury voted to acquit Penny. For many Americans, the verdict symbolized a triumph of justice, restoring faith in the legal system.
On the political Left, however, the outcome sparked outrage. Predictably, they managed to ignore the threat Neely had posed to the other passengers on that fateful day, and focused solely on the color of Neely’s skin.
The New Republic ran a headline declaring, MAGA’s Reaction to Daniel Penny Verdict Reveals Its Sick Nature, accusing the far right of celebrating Neely’s death and branding it as driven by racism.
On BlueSky, left-leaning voices echoed this sentiment. Mehdi Hasan, a former MSNBC host, tweeted, “Imagine, just imagine, if Jordan Neely had been white and Daniel Penny was black. Imagine what some of the folks defending Penny today would be saying. Just imagine.”
With all due respect to Hasan, I imagine Penny would not have been charged if he were black. And I’m pretty sure Hasan knows that.
Imagine, just imagine, if Jordan Neely had been white and Daniel Penny was blackImagine what some of the folks defending Penny today would be saying.Just imagine.
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan.bsky.social) 2024-12-09T18:22:09.191Z
Next, NYC Council member for Queens, New York, Tiffany Cabán wrote, “Everything that led up to and followed the lynching of Jordan Neely on a New York City subway train by Daniel Penny could have and should have been prevented.” A deranged homeless man charged onto a subway car, issued death threats, threw trash at and approached other riders, and Cabán portrayed the incident as a lynching?
Everything that led up to and followed the lynching of Jordan Neely on a New York City subway train by Daniel Penny could have and should have been prevented.
— Tiffany Cabán (@tiffanycaban.bsky.social) 2024-12-09T17:30:16.699Z
Next Cabán stated, “Jordan Neely deserved better than the violence of being denied access to stable housing and health care, and then dehumanized for it. Jordan Neely deserved better than the systems that allow for, and justify, extrajudicial white supremacist violence against Black people.” Cabán actually begins to make some sense in the first sentence. The city’s government shares some responsibility for Neely’s predicament. But then she wrongly blames the “systems that allow for, and justify, extrajudicial white supremacist violence against Black people” for Neely’s death.
A family member of Jordan Neely goes off after the judge dismissing the manslaughter charge against Daniel Penny after a jury deadlock.
"Today, white supremacy got another victory. Today, the KKK, the klansmen, the evil in America got another victory."
Bingo. pic.twitter.com/suA2ZKEnIm
— Art Candee 🍿🥤 (@ArtCandee) December 6, 2024
Actress and activist Mia Farrow noted, “Jordan Neely was 30-yrs old- struggling w mental illness, drug addiction & homelessness. He performed in NYC subways Danial Perry [sic] choked Mr Neely to death. A judge – not a jury- determined that Penny was not guilty of anything. I don’t understand.” Replying to a comment, Farrow pointed out that Penny was White and Neely was Black.
Jordan Neely was 30-yrs old- struggling w mental illness, drug addiction & homelessness. He performed in NYC subways Danial Perry choked Mr Neely to death. A judge – not a jury- determined that Penny was not guilty of anything. . I dont understand. www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/…
— Mia Farrow (@miafarrow.bsky.social) 2024-12-09T17:02:18.605Z
Following Penny’s acquittal, New York Black Lives Matter co-founder Hawk Newsome told a crowd, “we need some Black vigilantes.”
He railed, “People want to jump up and choke us and kill us for being loud? How about we do the same when they attempt to oppress us?”
BLM leader Hawk Newsome calls for violence against white people following the acquittal of Daniel Perry.
"People want to jump up and choke us and kill us for being loud? How about we do the same when they attemp to oppress us". pic.twitter.com/dSxWLUD81l
— American Debunk (@AmericanDebunk) December 10, 2024
Perhaps the most strikingly ironic reaction to the verdict came from Jordan Neely’s father, Andre Zachary. His indignation, following years of absence from his son’s life, rang hollow to many observers. Zachary, who was absent during Neely’s upbringing and struggles with homelessness, drug addiction, and mental illness, has now surfaced to file a lawsuit against Daniel Penny, seeking damages “in a sum which exceeds the jurisdictional limits of all lower courts.”
In a Tuesday op-ed, Pastor Corey Brooks, known as the “Rooftop Pastor” and a Fox News contributor, expressed outrage over Zachary’s lawsuit. Brooks raised a series of piercing questions:
- Where was Zachary during Neely’s formative years?
- What role did he play when his son witnessed an abusive relationship or was sent into foster care?
- Did he ever visit or support his son during his years in the system or when he grappled with his mental health and homelessness?
Brooks argued that Zachary’s neglect contributed significantly to Neely’s tragic life trajectory, stating, “Neely’s father played a role in his death.”
The op-ed shed light on Neely’s heartbreaking childhood. At 14, he endured the murder of his mother by her abusive boyfriend, who left her body in a suitcase along Henry Hudson Parkway. Neely was forced to testify in court, an experience that left deep scars. Orphaned and placed into foster care, Neely struggled with depression, schizophrenia, drug addiction, and homelessness in adulthood. His rap sheet included 42 arrests for offenses ranging from petty theft to assault.
Brooks directed his frustration at those who turned Neely’s death into a rallying cry for their agendas, including public figures like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Lt. Gov. Antonia Delgado, who prominently attended Neely’s funeral. Activist and MSNBC host Al Sharpton delivered a eulogy blaming systemic racism for Neely’s death.
In his op-ed, Brooks posed a pointed question to these figures and others expressing outrage over Neely’s fate: “Where were all of you when he was alive?”
The question strikes at the heart of the issue. Where indeed?
Elizabeth writes commentary for The Washington Examiner. She is an academy fellow at The Heritage Foundation and a member of the Editorial Board at The Sixteenth Council, a London think tank. Please follow Elizabeth on X or LinkedIn.
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I am unable to do what the leftist commentators imperatively demand— Imagine that Penny were black and Neely white.
“Facing Reality [by Charles Murray, 2021] is a bold, important book which should be widely read and discussed.” ―Amy L. Wax, Professor of Law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, for the Claremont Review of Books
MURRAY: The charges of white privilege and systemic racism that are tearing the country apart float free of reality. Two known facts, long since documented beyond reasonable doubt, need to be brought into the open and incorporated into the way we think about public policy: American whites, blacks, Hispanics, and Asians have different violent crime rates and different means and distributions of cognitive ability. The allegations of racism in policing, college admissions, segregation in housing, and hiring and promotions in the workplace ignore the ways in which the problems that prompt the allegations of systemic racism are driven by these two realities.
What good can come of bringing them into the open? America’s most precious ideal is what used to be known as the American Creed: People are not to be judged by where they came from, what social class they come from, or by race, color, or creed. They must be judged as individuals. The prevailing Progressive ideology repudiates that ideal, demanding instead that the state should judge people by their race, social origins, religion, sex, and sexual orientation.
We on the center left and center right who are the American Creed’s natural defenders have painted ourselves into a corner. We have been unwilling to say openly that different groups have significant group differences. Since we have not been willing to say that, we have been left defenseless against the claims that racism is to blame. What else could it be? We have been afraid to answer. We must. Facing Reality is a step in that direction.
Bravo, finally one other with guts.
Well, you have made Howard happy.
The difficult challenge is recognizing the truth behind the bell curve while simultaneously preserving the the emphasis on the content of the individual’s character. Simply saying “openly that different have significant group differences” is insufficient. And I am certain that Charles Murray would agree.
Racism is endemic to human nature because our brains have become extremely powerful pattern recognizers due to the necessities of survival. This is true across all human beings.
It is also true that there is what I would call “incidental racism”. The best example of this is the fact that black children are especially affected by the failures of our government monopoly bureaucratic school system because it’s worse in the poor sections of large cities, the inhabitants of which are majority black. Black children would do much better if their schools were competent and could expel children who were not interested in improving their education, and if there were good alternatives for the children who were expelled.
Finally, the madness of many high IQ individuals illustrates the fact that intelligence is sometimes inversely proportional to wisdom. Many voters will average to low intelligence voted for President Trump because they were wise enough to ignore the folly of the highly intelligent elites who voted for Harris.
More finally, an emphasis on “significant group differences” is a characteristic of the identity politics of the leftists. We should avoid it like the plague.
Imagine? Yes, imagine this:
Neely boards the subway car, sees a vacant seat and quietly sits down and just rides until it reaches his desired stop. He then calmly and quietly rises, walks to the door, and exits the car. He would be alive today. but no he had to start assaulting people on the car, being rowdy and loud, and physical. Even had he been PURPLE and behaved as I suggest above, he would yet be an unknown, but alive and at liberty. The pigmentation on his skin has as much to do with his well-deserved death as it has o do with what time the robin gets its worm in my yard.
I I remember correctly this was his 46th KNOWN “violent display” on the NY Subways. HOW can this be? WHY did not local LE deal with him at incident number TWO? They are also complicit on his well-deserved death.
Imagine, indeed……
As with any tragic incident, and especially with this one, there are many parties deserving of blame. That would include the authorities who failed to help or stop him, and his family who seem to care mainly for financial profit.
The reality of the case is, if the races were reversed, no one would’ve been charged. And there would be no protests by white people complaining about the dead guy.
Jordan Neely’s father, who hadn’t seen his son in 10 years, says nobody cared about his homeless son.
Jordan Neely’s father, who hadn’t seen his son in 10 years, says nobody cared about his homeless son.
And, he’s right.
Him, especially.
When I was in DC, and had time, I would offer to buy food for homeless veterans. Some accepted the offer, others were only interested in cash. Those went empty handed.
It was generally fast food, in that I did not think most restaurants would appreciate our presence. I took them to the Pentagon Mall food court & often half to an hour with them.
Veterans deserve better, inner city trash and illegals do not. The welfare culture needs to end.
Not only if they were reversed. Neely’s race is irrelevant. Had Penny been black, there would have been no fuss regardless of Neely’s race.
Just as had George Zimmerman gone by the name Jorge Mesa, as he could easily have done, none of us would ever have heard of him.
Hey, let’s all not forget that while Daniel Penny was the guy who held Neely’s top end, he had volunteer assistance from a black guy who helped hold his bottom end.
How did that guy make out at trial? Oh, that’s right, he was never even arrested.
“Had Penny been black, there would have been no fuss regardless of Neely’s race.”
This is true. And had Stanley Ann Dunham married a white man, we would’ve never heard of her son.
I well remember the sitting sorry excuse o a President at the time (who is precisely as white as Mr. Zimmerman) described him as “white hispanic”. Racism, anyone? Sure seems it comes mostly out o the “dark side”……
Daniel Penny broke one of New York’s most important laws: Interfering with criminal activity. He was just lucky to get a sane jury.
Just look at how many bodega clerks have been charged for defending themselves from armed robbers. Getting mugged? Don’t pull our your gun or knife and defend yourself, or you’ll be the one arrested and charged. See a crime in progress? Walk away and pretend not to see it. Make sure you don’t get involved!
This is a sign of a sick society, where heroism is criminalized.
Only one that I ever heard of. I’m sure it happens more often, but usually they are not charged, as is right and proper. It’s only that one time that the idiot DA decided to charge the guy.
There was another just two weeks ago. Bodega owner cleaning out his bathroom (which he has to do many times every day because many of his customers are pigs) comes across a gun someone left there. Puts it in a safe place behind the counter until close of work. Same day, dirtbag comes up and threatens him with lethal force. Bodega owner shoots him, hits him in the legs. Bodega owner arrested for having an illegal gun. Not clear from the reporting whether that meant it was illegal for him to have had it, or whether the gun was hot before it got left in the bathroom.
https://nypost.com/2024/12/04/us-news/nyc-bodega-owner-who-shot-armed-robbers-with-gun-he-found-is-hit-with-weapons-charges/
That’s not the same thing at all. This guy wasn’t charged with anything for defending himself. The DA acknowledged that he was clearly in the right for that. So it’s nothing like the previous case.
He was charged with being in possession of the gun, because guns are evil. Had Penny had a gun on him he’d have been charged with that too, and would have had no defense; he’d have had to plead guilty, and would have gone to prison just for that, even if it had been what saved his life and those of the other passengers. Because that’s not an excuse for owning those evil instruments of Satan. Better to die than to have one of them.
Neither. The issue is that he had no permit, and therefore no right to be in possession of it. The 2nd amendment has a little-known footnote in tiny print: “Except in New York City”. Just like the federal law that makes right turns on red legal unless there’s a sign saying otherwise doesn’t apply in NYC.
I thought possession o a irearm within a private residence or a persnplace o business was legal nationwide/ BBut then I don’t keep track o laws in those knot-si-phied states like NY, DC, Chicago……
Not in NYC. The 2nd amendment doesn’t exist here.
Alvin Bragg’s current term as Manhattan District Attorney ends on January 1, 2026. Let’s hope he is defeated at the ballot box.
Not likely. The voters of Manhattan like what he’s doing. They think he’s doing a great job.
Juries do not reflect the voting population.
Do you remember Marcia Clark? On Tuesday, she predicted that Democratic Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg would likely be voted out of office in 2025.
https://thelibertydaily.com/enough-already-former-o-j-simpson-prosecutor-says/
If only. But I doubt it.
I don’t live in Manhattan, so I don’t get a vote on him.
It wasn’t a sane jury. A sane jury would have found him innocent of the first charge also. At least one of the people on the jury is completely nuts and would have convicted on a higher intent crime but voted not guilty on a lower intent crime.
A mostly sane jury. At least one member evidently wanted to convict him for not only for negligent homicide but outright manslaughter and hung the jury briefly, after all.
Black racists running their mouths are getting old.
Alvin Bragg brings to mind something that thurgood Marshall said when he was appointed to the supreme Court: “Now it’s OUR turn!”.
Attorney General Eric Holder, who is black, used the phrase “my people” in congressional testimony when referring to African Americans.
What’s worse is that they are lying and they know they are lying.
“Neely got on the train and the first thing he did was ask for some food.”
Yeah? Maybe. But then what were the second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth things he said?
“People want to jump up and choke us and kill us for being loud?”
No, people want to neutralize you for assaulting and threatening to kill people, you G-damned liar.
We are all racist because Daniel Penny did something that caused people to remark “That was mighty White of you”.
On it’s face the remark appears racist being that it passive-aggressively says Blacks have no moral compass nor compassion for anyone else but themselves, but it is based on the observation of behavior displayed for 300 years of an obsession with skin tone.
It’s a hell of a lot more than skin tone. Please don’t capitalize black. There is no apostrophe in the possessive its.
Not all blacks, granted a majority. I do know a number of blacks who have earned success. I wish that there were more of that caliber, as in a per capita basis.
I see a racist white guy killed his mother.
https://www.nj.com/jjournal-news/2012/03/bayonne_man_convicted_in_girlf.html
Tribalism is a horrible thing and we should work to exclude it and its adherents from civil society. We have got to get back to the brief period where we were judging others by their merit and their actions and stop injecting race, religion or any other non germane factors into the equation. If we refuse to do so then we will collapse into multiple factions all in conflict with one another.
How about these evil, stupid and contemptible black “activists” and rabble-rousers demand instead that black sociopath criminals and drug addicts behave themselves, seek help/treatment and comport themselves in accordance with the norms, laws and standards of American society? As opposed to visiting their predations and belligerent behavior upon innocent citizens with total impunity and without fear of consequence?
Apparently, such standards are a bridge too far, for the vile Dhimmi-crats and subversive race agitators in the black community. Rational people are sick and tired of criminal sociopaths “of color” being given carte blanche to visit their predations, threats and violence upon innocents, with impunity, simply because callous and politically self-serving Dhimmi-crat apparatchiks deem it allegedly politically expedient to coddle said criminals/sociopaths and to hinder/subvert their arrest, prosecution and incarceration.
I deny it. I don’t think it was unfortunate at all. Deliberately killing him would have been wrong, but I don’t think it’s sad that he’s dead.
Unfortunate for Penny
No, she doesn’t. He wasn’t denied access. He was given access and chose not to use it.
The Legal System and the Social Services system failed Jordan Neely, leaving it to Daniel Penny to act for all the others in that subway car.
How many more like Neely are out there, set to go off?
This travesty of a trial should never have been brought.
The NY Times says: “For many Americans, the verdict symbolized a triumph of justice, restoring faith in the legal system.” No, the trial itself refined our doubts about a legal system where we daily see Law twisted to a political weapon.
With a father still living, he was not an orphan. He was abandoned and placed into foster care.
Pastor Brooks’ essay at Fox News is worth reading. He fairly excoriates Neely’s absent father and the sundry vulture-like Dhimmi-crat apparatchiks who are exploiting his death, asking the pertinent question, “Where were these people during Neely’s life?” Nowhere to be found.
Caban: “Everything that led up to and followed the lynching of Jordan Neely on a New York City subway train by Daniel Penny could have and should have been prevented.”
Yes, it COULD have been “prevented”, but wasn’t, and therefore Penny stepped into the void left by the inept policies the NY council adopts.
Perhaps bring charges against the Mayor and Council for failing it’s responsibility and creating the environment leading to Neely’s death, AND the trauma Penny faced protecting himself and others.
A wise judge would rule the Jordan Neely’s father lacks standing to file a lawsuit.
And sanction the lawyer involved for filing a frivolous lawsuit!