Daniel Penny, the Navy veteran who is charged with manslaughter after he was seen on video strangling a black man, said the encounter with Jordan Neely was not motivated by race and that he is not a white supremacist. .
Penny talked to him New York Post on Saturday about the May 1 incident, which was partially captured on cellphone video on a northbound F train and showed Penny on the ground holding Neely, 30, in a chokehold.
“This has nothing to do with race,” Penny, 24, said while speaking to the newspaper at Argyle Park in Babylon on Long Island.
“I judge a person based on their character. I am not a white supremacist,” he added.
Penny continued: “I mean, it’s kind of funny. Everyone who has known me can tell you that I love all people, I love all cultures. It shows from my past and all my travels and adventures around the world. In fact, I was planning a road trip across Africa before this happened.»
Donte Mills, an attorney representing Neely’s family, said in a statement in response to Penny’s comments: “This is an announcement to soften public opinion of Daniel Penny, who strangled Jordan Neely to death. We never call him a white supremacist, we call him a murderer.»
“We don’t care how many vacations you’ve had. We want to know why she didn’t release the chokehold until Jordan was dead,» the attorney added.
Mills also noted that there were witnesses who pleaded with Penny to let Neely go.
Neely’s death sparked a national debate, with people denouncing vigilantism and some politicians demanding that officials do more to address homelessness, mental health and violence on the subways. Neely suffered from mental illness as a result of the murder of her mother, Mills said.
Penny was arraigned May 12 on a second-degree manslaughter charge that Neely’s family suggested was too lenient.
Bail was set at $100,000. Penny put up $6,000 and her parents guaranteed full bail. He was released pending trial.
As he left, Penny was surrounded by his defense team and detectives, and several people came up to shake his hand.
Right-wing political figures and groups have compared Penny to a good Samaritan who rescued the public from danger, and Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley called on New York Gov. Kathy Hochul to pardon him and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican. from Georgia. tweeting that Penny «is a hero».
He added that Neely «was a violent criminal who should have been behind bars,» even though he never had physical contact with anyone on the train before he was strangled.
Neely was unconscious when officers arrived and pronounced him dead at the hospital, police said. The city medical examiner’s office said he died of «neck compression (strangulation)» and that the manner was a homicide.
Juan Alberto Vázquez, a witness who filmed the cell phone footage, said NBC New York that Neely got on the train and “started making this kind of aggressive speech, saying he was hungry, he was thirsty, he didn’t care, he didn’t care about going to jail, he didn’t care about that he gets a big life sentence ”. Neely was homeless and described to him as a subway busker. who acted as Michael Jackson.
Neely was strangled for about 15 minutes, Vazquez said. Video shows two other subway passengers appearing to help restrain him.
Penny’s lawyers have said Neely was «aggressively threatening» the passengers, adding that their client never meant to hurt him. Neely’s family, however, rejected that version.
Minyvonne Burke and Adam Reiss contributed.