Black Man Dead, White Man Innocent
Several “What If’s” and “Maybes” in the Cold-Blooded Murder of Jordan Neely
Jordan Neely
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It is interesting to consider how the fire burns on a path it is very hard to understand afterwards. Why do the flames go straight up the wall, curve, and then come right back overhead? Why do they not follow the contour of the woodwork?
Why did things go haywire that day in May? We know what happened (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Jordan_Neely).
Yes, we do know what happened. It’s just that a lot of people do not care. So it is interesting to look at the day in a new way. And to use our imaginations…
For sake of conjecture, we can imagine different scenarios in which the players are slightly different from the reality of that May trip on the train. For example, we can consider race and role. How might they help the scene play out in a slightly different reality?
What if Jordan Neely had been White? Would Penny have hugged him? Fist-bumped him and called him “bro” to call him down? They could have talked about how much pressure White guys have to constantly win, excel, and gain acceptance. They could have joked about baseball or football. They could have shared the feelings that our country is “going to hell” as has been said recently. How to fix the USA? Some people seem to have some answers.
What if Jordan Neely had been White—and had not had any issues with mental health, homelessness, hunger, or poverty? If Jordan had just been some student at Columbia, or some honors student at a local arts academy, maybe he would have looked more presentable? They could have joked about how hard algebra is. How smelly the train is. How crazy and gross all the other people on the train are.
If Jordan had been some White kid just hanging out on the train, maybe they could have become “buds” and gone out for a drink somewhere after meeting. We know Penny likes to hit the bottle when he is celebrating something. Maybe they could have commiserated about any number of issues. Maybe Penny could have whispered suggestive things in Jordan’s ear… maybe things could have gone a lot more smoothly if they had just found something in common to share…
What if Penny had been Black? A disciplined, ex-Marine, and a brother. He could have said something like, “Hey, man, y’all are scarin’ these White people.” The soldier could have comforted Jordan. They could have laughed together. They could have made plans to hang out sometime—but that wouldn’t have happened… just people you meet on the train. The important thing is to try to connect. Even if you never have coffee together or go to a comedy club.
What if Penny had been Black—and also poor or homeless or somehow disturbed? They could have been two young brothers against the world. Figuring it out. Maybe joking or maybe deciding life is too hard to worry about. Penny could have told of his troubles. He could have helped Jordan to tell him where there were good meals being served in the neighborhood. Or some neighborhood. Or where to get a new phone free of charge or a job or a new coat. A lot of information about resources is shared on a daily basis among the poor and the challenged and the unhoused and the wandering.
But none of those scenarios occurred. That is not how it went.
It seems like if people are stuck on the train together, things get confusing, and things get threatening, maybe murder is just what some people think of. Maybe other people think that is okay. Maybe murder will fix the problem. Maybe murder is the obvious answer. Maybe murder is the most heroic thing to resort to—and maybe that is to be expected. Accepted. Respected?
Lest I sound sarcastic, I would like to emphasize that some of us who watch these kinds of scenarios figured there was the great possibility Penny would walk away—at least from this first trial—scot-free. He would be innocent. Some things just go in a certain direction because that’s the way things go.
There is a famous line from the movie “Backdraft” in which the fire inspector (played ably by Robert DeNiro) asks why the fire follows a certain path—instead of up a more reasonable path supported by science. He answers his own question by saying, “Because the fire wants to.”
The murder went a certain way—and was even recorded on the phones of other passengers. The trial went a certain way—and nobody seems to talk much about how it meandered down the old dirt road behind the corn crib.
…and into oblivion? We hope there will be more developments coming, and StreetSense will cover them.
Stephen Wilson, one of the reporters for StreetSense, has given us a full account of what happened, including the final verdict of the (first) trial (https://streetsense.substack.com/p/history-repeats-itself).
The jury decided Penny is not guilty. Of any charge (https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/daniel-penny-verdict-nyc-subway-chokehold-jordan-neely/).
Make no mistake, there are some who have condemned the innocent outcome of the trial, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, also known as AOC, who is a member of the US House of representatives. She knows about subways trains in New York City. AOC has made a very wise statement: the subway remains unsafe because Penny is free to keep riding it, with nobody supervising him, and with his murderous conduct deemed acceptable (https://www.yahoo.com/news/aoc-slams-violent-daniel-penny-075000456.html).
Various celebrities have mentioned their disgust that Penny went to celebrate his “win” by going out for his legal team for drinks in a nearby bar. Whoopi Goldberg, for example, said, “You killed a guy.” She went on to say that maybe he should have taken that celebration home, instead of showcasing it for the world. This was a great show of disrespect to the family of Jordan Neely. On the television show “The View” Goldberg was joined by lawyer and author Sunny Hostin in denouncing not only the celebration of the murder but also the way society failed Jordan Neely in so many ways. A man in need of help did not receive it (https://www.yahoo.com/news/whoopi-goldberg-bristles-daniel-penny-200045239.html).
Others are now coming forward to mention that the very society that applauds the verdict in the murder case is the same one that did not help Jordan Neely (https://www.yahoo.com/news/opinion-many-called-jury-verdict-133000921.html). Jordan was suffering. He did not get enough help before he walked onto the train.
However, he also did not get enough help while he was already on the train and hoping for assistance. To murder him is actually a sign of guilt. Here is this problem we did not solve. Therefore, maybe we should just terminate the problem.
It’s something like the guilt that comes from not solving the homeless problems around the country and then blaming the homeless for all the tents and garbage and decay. If we cannot figure out how to help the homeless and how to get them out of those tents and into housing, let’s just get rid of the tents. Basic. Easy. No problem for us in our 5-bedroom condos and our 6-bedroom houses. Make the tents illegal. Burn them down, throw them out. Ticket the people living in the tents. Or better yet, fine them! Turn them into criminals! Put them in jail!
Predictably, certain people have championed Penny’s cause (whatever that is). Some people look at him as a hero. After all, he murdered a skinny kid. Who was hungry, suffering, and homeless. Kick them when they are down, and you get to sit in an exalted seat indeed. Who knows WHERE Penny will be seen next? (https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-vance-attend-army-navy-game-daniel-penny/story?id=116774267)
Legal experts have weighed in on the case and expressed their disgust over the judge dismissing a reckless manslaughter charge against Penny. And where did this push to drop that charge come from? Many people—including those familiar with the intricacies of the law—have denounced decisions made in the case. For example, Fox News legal analyst Greg Jarrett stressed it “was improper for Alvin Bragg's prosecutors to suddenly decide to try to drop the top charge of reckless manslaughter after spending eight weeks telling the jury that Penny was guilty of it and the judge let him get away with it, and he shouldn't have” let him get away with it (https://www.yahoo.com/news/judges-instruction-jury-consider-negligent-164226264.html).
What had happened on that train? “At the end of the day,” as people like to say, Jordan Neely wound up dead.
The Jordan Neely murder is typical of what happens to homeless men. To Black homeless men. To young Black homeless men. In cities like New York and Chicago…
What would happen to the over-zealous ex-marine? He would be found guilty. He had killed him. He was a killer. So many people put so much faith in the system once Penny was indicted and the trial was underway.
The jury had trouble actually deciding that Penny was guilty… of the first charge…
Then they got a second charge to think about.
As it is, the judge did a great job of sabotaging the case against Penny. By confusing the issue with the second charge, the system gave enough of an excuse that the jury just threw up their hands and decided, once they had finally thought about it, Penny was called innocent. Of everything.
Penny is innocent.
And Jordan Neely is dead.