New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams has described as “an important step” Wednesday’s indictment of Daniel Penny, the Marine veteran who was arrested last month after a choke hold killing a homeless man on a subway car in a case that created a political firestorm in New York City and nationwide.
The case against Penny was brought by the Manhattan district attorney’s office, which had charged Penny with manslaughter in the death of Jordan Neely, but needed the grand jury’s approval to proceed, according to the New York Times.
“This indictment is an important step, and shows this case is being treated with the gravity it demands,” said Williams, the son of Grenadian immigrants. “The legal process will play out; and, in our system, Daniel Penny gets the presumption of innocence.
“That’s a luxury not afforded to Jordan Neely before he was killed on camera — homeless, hungry, Black and in mental crisis all at the same time,” he added. “No matter the charges or the outcome in this case, we have to reckon with and upend the systems that left Jordan angry and hopeless, and the structures that mean Daniel Penny has received more resources in the last month than Jordan did in his entire life, marked by trauma and cut tragically short.”
The Times said Penny was arrested and arraigned on May 12, but the law required that the District Attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, persuade a grand jury that there was reasonable cause to believe Penny had committed a crime before proceeding with the case.
“If Mr. Penny pleads not guilty at his State Supreme Court arraignment, it would set up Mr. Bragg’s office for a high-profile trial,” the Times said. “At a trial, Mr. Penny’s lawyers would likely argue that his actions were justified and that he had a reasonable belief that Mr. Neely was on the verge of using deadly force. Prosecutors would have to prove to a jury that Mr. Penny caused Mr. Neely’s death and used the chokehold knowing that it could kill.”
The Times noted that the racial dynamics of the case — Penny is white and Neely was Black — “drew intense attention, as did concerns about subway crime and the treatment of the mentally ill in New York.”
In the days after Neely was killed, the publication said left-leaning Democrats in New York “pointed to the absence of a quick arrest as evidence of a racist justice system, and said the case exemplified the city’s challenges in dealing with its most vulnerable citizens.
“But conservatives defended Mr. Penny, saying that he heroically defended his fellow passengers,” the Times said. “After Republican politicians spoke out on his behalf, a legal fund his lawyers established on his behalf raised close to $3 million.”
