Jordan Neely Court Case Continues: Another Alternative
By Stephen Wilson, one of our reporters abroad
“R.I.P. Jordan Neely. A Black man was killed by a White man. N.Y.P.D has not arrested the murderer. We want justice.!” Those were the words written on a placard raised by protester, one of many who had gathered shortly after the killing of the 30-year-old homeless man and Michael Jackson impersonator Jordan Neely on the 1st of May 2023. The protesters who gathered at the scene were indignant at the fact that the authorities had not yet arrested Daniel Penny, an ex-marine who had just killed Neely and casually walked away.
But whether those protesters will witness true justice for Jordan Neely seems highly questionable given the case has evoked very strong passions from an increasingly divided and polarized society.
The trial of Daniel Penny just came to a close (November 22, 2024). Anyone who has been following this trial can be forgiven for forgetting who is exactly on trial…Is it the late Jordan Neely or is it Daniel Penny? For the number of insensitive comments deriding the character of Neely is incredible.
The defense rests. The judge will hold a charging conference with the attorneys on Monday, November 25, to discuss his instructions to the jury. Then the jury will be off until after Thanksgiving, when the trial will resume with closing arguments, plus the judge’s instructions, and followed by the jury deliberations (https://www.yahoo.com/news/defense-rests-daniel-penny-subway-214756245.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall).
Unsurprisingly, the relatives of Jordan Neely are deeply offended. They are angry that the accused has never apologized fully and in a believable fashion or expressed regret for this avoidable killing (https://www.blackenterprise.com/jordan-neelys-family-rejects-daniel-pennys-apology/).
For anyone unaware, Jordan Neely was a homeless passenger travelling on a northbound train in New York on May the 1st 2023. Jordan Neely became upset and started screaming in a loud voice that he was hungry, thirsty, and homeless and was prepared to kill in order to go to jail. He took off his coat and threw it on the ground. An ex-marine and student of architecture approached Neely and threw him to the ground and held him on chokehold for six minutes. The ex-marine was assisted by two other passengers.
Despite being asked by another passenger to release Neely from chokehold, Penny persisted in holding Neely until he died.
Afterwards, Penny was charged with manslaughter and also criminally negligent homicide. You might have thought this case was straightforward because the killing was actually filmed and therefore recorded. But the defense of Penny has amassed many supporters who condone or at least sympathize with his action.
So far the defense have been emphasizing how erratic and threatening Neely acted. They suggest Neely represented a real threat to the safety of passengers. They have pointed out how Neely had been previously charged 44 times for assault as well as how he took drugs. They claim the passengers were alarmed and anxious about his behavior. They argue Penny intervened simply to protect the passengers (https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/daniel-penny-interrogation-video-reveals-him-telling-detectives-i-m-not-trying-to-kill-the-guy-hours-after-jordan-neely-s-chokehold-death/ar-AA1u73MQ#:~:text=In%20the%20interrogation%20video%20shown%20to%20jurors%20Thursday%2C,though%20the%20doors%20of%20the%20uptown%20F%20train).
The second line of defense is that Neely's death was not just due to Penny's chokehold but 'multiple factors' such as the fact that toxic substances may have weakened his body. But in the final analysis the main thrust of the defense's argument is there was no alternative but for Penny to approach and restrain Neely on the grounds he was about to physically attack passengers.
About four weeks have passed since the beginning of the trial. The defense felt partly vindicated by what they claim is the inconsistent testimony of one witness who helped restrain Neely and claimed to have failed to persuade Penny to let go of Neely (https://apnews.com/article/daniel-penny-jordan-neely-nyc-subway-chokehold-3f5adc56d065cfdfaae2e0e77974591e).
The defense have been relying on some witnesses to claim how threatened they felt about Neely's behavior (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65578905).
However, there are two points through which the prosecution can argue their case convincingly. According to the medical examiner Dr Cynthia Harris, Neely died from compression of the neck {chokehold}. There were no other explanations for his death. She stated, “It's my medical opinion that there are no alternative reasonable explanations for Mr Neely's death.” The claim that drug use may have contributed to his death was deemed irrelevant (https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/prosecution-rests-defense-calls-first-witnesses-trial-man-accused-chok-rcna180597).
It has been argued that his body was weakened by drug use and by sickle cell traits. The fact that there was a warrant out for him also seems to chip away at the victim’s value. The defense has painted a disturbing picture indeed: a dangerous schizophrenic, with a violent past, wanted by the police, and out of control in some sort of drug-induced outburst that was scaring other passengers, making them fear for their lives. (https://www.yahoo.com/news/daniel-penny-trial-defense-witness-152226747.html) Those arguments, in addition to the fact Neely was Black, show a huge amount of disrespect for that individual who was looking for help, in a desperate way.
And did Jordan Neely truly represent a deadly threat? The facts are that not a single witness saw Neely brandish a weapon or touch any passenger before Penny approached him.
Jordan Neely.
.
Are we supposed to believe that Penny could not have foreseen that he might have choked Neely to death after holding him in chokehold for six minutes?
Six minutes is a very long time to hold anyone in chokehold! It is like an infinity to the victim!
The court summoned the martial arts expert who trained Penny. His trainer, Joseph Caballar, stated that Penny may have applied a chokehold improperly. Penny might have used a blood choke which could have cut off oxygen to a person's brain in 8 seconds or an 'air choke.' What is distinctly evident is that the use of a chokehold is just too risky as a method to peacefully subdue any would be aggressor. It is no accident that the U.S. Department of Justice bans the use of it by all federal police officers (https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/department-justice-announces-department-wide-policy-chokeholds-and-no-knock-entries).
The idea that there was no other means of restraining someone is absurd. Any decent martial arts instructor or good student will tell you that there are many more effective ways of restraining an attacker. For example, in Judo there is a well-known technique where you can trip up an opponent and pin him down on the ground with your knees on his shoulders without physically harming him in any way at all. In fact, the aim of many marital arts is not to aggressively assault and kill people but for the learner to struggle and master his own negative emotions.
The word Judo translates as the 'gentle peaceful way.' You learn Judo to master your negative emotions and reach a degree of inner spiritual freedom—allowing you to become a better person. By doing this you will be able to much more effectively assist other people in distress. That would mean helping distressed people such as Neely. Penny could have restrained Neely without harming him in any way. Any Judo practitioner who knows his stuff can tell you that.
Unfortunately, some of the students of the martial arts don't learn the spiritual roots of this art. They see it simply as a means of defense—or worse—simply as a means of assaulting anyone who offends them or argues with them. The practice of learning the virtues along with the art have been forgotten or obscured. I have witnessed terrible incidents where I see someone get out of a car and go up another person who did not give way and assault them using the marital arts.
I think it is imperative for potential instructors to ask their students why they want to learn the art and how important it is not to abuse those arts. For instance, you learn Judo to help not hurt people you come across. The martial arts can't be reduced to simply being a fighting technique. On the contrary, it represents a deeply profound philosophy which if practiced well can contain and restrain any potential aggression safely. Learning Judo is the way of peace and not violence!
In regard to the Jordan Neely case and so many other cases it is important to remind students of the martial arts the precise philosophy and roots of those arts. The aim of those arts was more often to bring peace to yourself and other people! The goal of Judo and other schools of the martial arts is not to kill homeless people but to help them! This ought to be one of the main lessons to emerge from this very tragic case.
There was more than one viable alternative in responding to Jordan Neely!