On May 1 of last year, Jordan Neely, a beloved street performer, boarded a northbound F train at the Second Avenue subway station. After the train doors closed, Neely cried out to his fellow passengers, expressing that he had neither food nor water. In Neely’s moment of distress, ex-Marine Daniel Penny jumped on Neely and put him in a chokehold, killing him. 

Penny walked home scot-free that night. In the days following Neely’s murder, people took to the streets and subways in protest and rage, calling for the arrest of Penny and justice for Neely, who before being murdered by Penny, was made vulnerable and left without adequate support from the City of New York as he experienced homelessness and mental health issues.

Penny is now standing trial for his murder of Neely, who was best known for his Michael jackson imitations, and on Oct. 21, as jury selection for the trial commenced at the New York City Criminal Court, the New York City-based December 12th Movement (D12M) held a press conference to reiterate the demand that Penny be held accountable. 

“The facts are simple for the jury. Available video confirms that Jordan Neely did not initiate violence to anyone on that train,” Christian Joseph of D12M said at the press conference. “Daniel Penny chose to use the moment of a poor Black man’s call for help to act out his racist underlying tendencies. … Daniel Penny killed Jordan Neely, not in self-defense, but rather in an arrogant flex of muscles to kill a nuisance.”

Penny is being charged with second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide, both of which he has pleaded not guilty to. A second-degree manslaughter conviction carries a minimum sentence of three years and a maximum of 15. Penny wasn’t charged until more than a week after he had killed Neely. Prosecutors have been criticized for obscuring and undermining the intentional racist violence Penny unleashed upon Neely. 

“Daniel Penny is a civilian, an ex-Marine, who is trained to kill people. … He knew what he was doing,” said Roger Wareham, attorney and International Secretariat of D12M. “Given what he was, given who he is, the penalty should be higher. And the signal that’s being sent to the vigilantes [is], you can get away with this if it’s a Black life. It really doesn’t matter.” 

Imani Henry, a member of Equality for Flatbush and a social worker for over 25 years, spoke about the city’s systematic divestment from social services and investment instead into the NYPD — a process of organized abandonment that only leaves working-class New Yorkers of color like Neely at more risk of organized violence.

“The bigger issue of this is that the city of New York spends more money on the NYPD than making sure that our people have housing,” Henry said. “We need money for housing and services. Not more cops, not more police violence, not shootings on the train and definitely not to create an energy and climate that is about vigilantism, is about racism, is about white supremacy and about demonizing and criminalizing people who are just trying to live and survive in New York City under this gentrification that is ethnically cleansing our neighborhoods.”

Following the press conference, the crowd of over 50 rallied for an hour, carrying signs reading “Justice for Jordan Neely: End Racist Vigilantism Now!” and “Rest in Power Jordan Neely #AbolishThePolice” and ringing out the chant of “Justice for who? Jordan Neely!” outside the 100 Centre St. courthouse. 

Omowale Clay of the D12M echoed the words of other members who expressed that the call for the press conference and rally was to both re-engage people’s consciousness and to call people back into action. 

“The brother was murdered on the train,” Clay said. “It’s not that long ago, if you remember Sutter Avenue, when the police opened up on a crowded platform over $2.90. We’re not gonna be intimidated. We’re not gonna be run out of New York City. We got a cop in City Hall. We got cops everywhere. And there’s no justice anywhere for poor, Black and people of color. So we want folks to know that we are not going anywhere.” 

The Indypendent is a New York City-based newspaper, website and weekly radio show. All of our work is made possible by readers like you. During this holiday season, please consider making a recurring or one-time donation today or subscribe to our monthly print edition and get every copy sent straight to your home.