RUTHFULLY YOURS

Daniel Penny, a 24-year-old United States Marine Corps veteran, had embarked on a train at the Second Avenue station heading to the Broadway-Lafayette Street station.

Just before the train was about to depart, a 30-year-old homeless man, Jordan Neely, burst into the train and began shouting.

One witness, Juan Alberto Vázquez, a freelance journalist, said Neely started screaming, “I don’t have food, I don’t have a drink, I’m fed up. I don’t mind going to jail and getting life in prison. I’m ready to die.”

The memory of a 2022 subway shooting was most likely fresh in the passengers’ minds. This was when a masked Black supremacist, 62-year-old Frank James, threw smoke grenades and fired his handgun in the New York City subway. The act of terrorism caused 29 people to be injured, and this included victims who were hit by direct gunfire, while others were affected due to smoke inhalation.

Back to 2023.

The situation inside the train was volatile, and perhaps Neely would have engaged in acts of terrorism like Frank James did.

Journalist Vázquez also revealed that Neely took off his jacket and threw it to the floor, causing other passengers to move away from him fearing their well-being. Other witnesses said that Neely made “half-lunge movements” at other passengers and was within “half a foot of people.” Witnesses said Neely tossed garbage at other passengers and even began approaching people in a threatening manner. A mother with a child testified that Neely charged at passengers, and she shielded herself and her child behind a stroller, believing she might die. Another witness heard Neely say, “Someone is going to die today.”

Moments later, Daniel Penny approached Neely from behind and placed him in a chokehold. Penny restrained the miscreant after the train had reached its next stop, Broadway-Lafayette Street. Other passengers held the doors open to prevent it from moving. Penny released Neely only after the New York City Police (NYPD) officers arrived on the scene by which time Neely was unconscious it was reported that his pulse was still felt.

The NYPD attempted to resuscitate Neely, and an NYPD Sergeant at the scene revealed that none of his team performed mouth-to-mouth on Neely because he was a ‘drug user’ and they feared contracting hepatitis.

Eventually, the New York City Fire Department took Neely to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Penny was taken for questioning by the NYPD and released without charge several hours later. It was revealed that Neely was intoxicated on synthetic marijuana known as K2.

Experts opined that the cause of Neely’s death wasn’t Penny’s chokehold — but the combined effects of drugs, struggle, and schizophrenia.

Make no mistake, this was an act of unmitigated heroism on Penny’s part. Penny placed himself in peril when he approached the miscreant who could have been armed, and his behavior made him seem very dangerous.

There will be those, even people who are not Penny’s detractors, who say he could have acted differently, perhaps not held Neely for so long, or not applied a chokehold. But those people weren’t at the crime scene where adrenalin was running high and Penny had to make a split-second decision.

It is very easy for armchair experts to prescribe how Penny should have reacted days, months, and a year after the incident. But Penny was there and he did the best he could. It must be said that Penny didn’t engage in an act of violence – i.e., he didn’t strike or kick Neely, he merely restrained a potential terrorist until the police arrived. One witness revealed that Penny relaxed his grip minutes after placing the chokehold on Neel.

Alas for vultures in the judiciary, the media, politics, and beyond looking to bake their bread on the figurative funeral pyres of others, the incident became about race.

The potential terrorist was painted as the victim of his mental illness issues, drug addiction and homelessness. The fact that he was a Michael Jackson impersonator was mentioned to humanize him.

The hero became the victim of a relentless demonization campaign.

Penny was not only branded a racist but also a classist, ableist, and murderer. You would be forgiven for thinking these pejorative epithets were part of a satirical setup.

Black Lives Matter called it ‘the racist killing of a mentally ill black man by an overzealous white military faithful.’

Fortunately, common sense prevailed in the courts, this seems like a rarity these days, especially in liberal precincts.

The charge of second-degree manslaughter, which carried a maximum 15-year sentence, was dismissed by Judge Maxwell Wiley while a Manhattan jury found Penny not guilty of criminally negligent homicide, which carried a four-year maximum sentence.

Penny was acquitted.

Legal experts said that the case should not have been brought to court, especially since the NYPD has let Penny go after questioning. The villain behind this one is notorious New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who also targeted President Trump.

As expected, the acquittal incurred the unhinged wrath of leftists, who are still in shock following President Trump’s landslide victory last month.

While Penny’s acquittal is celebrated, it must be remembered he was subjected to needless hardships and humiliation for more than a year and a half due to his legal hassles. The process became the equivalent of hard punishment, and Bragg knew this.

So it was great to see President Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance publicly support Penny by inviting him to an Army-Navy game in Landover, Maryland.

The smear and hate campaign against Penny could scare potential bravehearts in the future.

After all, nobody wants to be subjected to smears and vilification.

However, being invited by a popular president such as Donald Trump could reduce the impact of the demonization campaign and potentially encourage similar acts of heroism.

Hopefully, Penny will be given suitable employment in the future and perhaps even a Presidential Medal of Honor. Hopefully, his legal bills will be recompensed.

It is important to remember that such heroism is not just about being tough and adept in combat.

Heroism begins from a place of selflessness — the hero places the interests of others before his own when his fellow humans are in peril.

In this age of vanity, egocentricity, and narcissism, it is nice to see a display of compassion and morality.

Penny and others like him must be celebrated as humanitarians as much as heroes, hopefully, this celebration will cause people to forget the demonization campaign and will create a climate that encourages similar acts.

The justice system and law enforcement must ensure that such heroes are honored and above all treated with dignity and respect during every interaction.

Perhaps Congress should pass laws that mandate a pension or some handsome reward for bravery.

The coverage across all media needs to be more extensive and commemorative, these heroes deserve to become household names and aspirational figures.