Daniel Penny, the ex-Marine facing charges for the death of Jordan Neely, said he was protecting passengers from harm and denied trying to kill Neely, according to a series of videos released by Penny’s lawyers on Sunday.
Penny is facing manslaughter charges after restraining Neely via a chokehold on a New York subway last month, where Neely was reported to be acting erratically and making threats toward other passengers on the train. Neely later died after passengers were unable to revive him following the chokehold.
Penny defended himself, arguing Neely was threatening to “kill” passengers and that he needed to act.
“A man stumbled on, he appeared to be on drugs, the doors closed, and he ripped his jacket off and threw it down at the people sitting next to me at my left,” Penny said. “He was yelling, so I took my headphones out to hear what he was yelling, and the three main threats that he repeated over and over again were ‘I’m going to kill you, I’m prepared to go to jail for life and I’m willing to die.'”
“I was scared for myself, but I looked around, I saw women and children – he was yelling in their faces, saying these threats, I couldn’t just sit still,” he added.
Video of the altercation went viral in early May, which depicts Penny holding Neely in a chokehold on the floor of the train. It was previously reported that Penny had Neely in this chokehold for 15 minutes, ultimately resulting in Penny’s death. (RELATED: Desantis-Endorsed Fundraiser For Defense Of Daniel Penny Cracks $1 Million”)
Penny disputed that allegation.
“Some people say that I was holding on to Mr. Neely for 15 minutes. This is not true – between stops is only a couple of minutes,” Penny said. “So the whole interaction lasted less than 5 minutes.”
Penny also refuted claims that he was intentionally trying to kill Neely.
“Some people say I was trying to choke him to death – which is also not true. I was trying to restrain him,” he said.
Penny also claimed his actions had nothing to do with race, as many media outlets have previously reported: “Some people say this is about race, which is absolutely ridiculous. I didn’t see a black man threatening passengers, I saw a man threatening passengers – a lot of whom were people of color.”
“I knew I had to act. And I acted in a way that would protect the other passengers, protect myself, and protect Mr. Neely,” said Penny. “I used this hold to restrain him…you can see in the video there’s a clear rise and fall of his chest, indicating that he was still breathing.”
Penny is being charged with second-degree manslaughter. His next court date is scheduled for July 17. Supporters of Penny’s have raised millions of dollars in his defense.
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