Sean Hannity audience member ‘cheers’ NYC subway rider who killed homeless passenger
Attorneys for the family of Jordan Neely have criticised a statement released by the firm representing Daniel Penny after the 30-year-old homeless street performer was fatally choked on a New York City subway on 1 May.
Neely was placed in a chokehold by the 24-year-old former Marine on a Manhattan F train after Neely allegedly threatened passengers. No charges have been filed. The Manhattan district attorney’s office is investigating.
Attorneys for Mr Penny said in a statement on Friday that he “never intended to harm Mr Neely and could not have foreseen his untimely death” after Mr Penny and two other passengers “acted to protect themselves”.
On Monday, attorneys for Neely’s family called the statement an “admission of guilt” and neither “an apology nor an expression of regret”.
The incident has sparked debates, protests and vigils across New York and on the city’s subway platforms, demanding justice in the days after the fatal incident and stressing the failure of a system meant to support people like Neely. At least 13 people were arrested in connection with a protest on Saturday at the Lexington Avenue and 63rd Street stop.
