On Jordan Neely’s Death.

On May 1st, 2023 subway passengers on the F train going through Manhattan witnessed the death of Jordan Neely. The NYPD was called to a NoHo station around 2:25 pm after a report of a physical fight on a north-bound F train. Jordan Neely was killed when an ex marine, Daniel Penny, attempted to subdue Neely in a sleeper hold. Penny did this because he was acting in a disturbing manner and this ultimately led to Jordan Neely’s death.

Based on reporting, Neely was pacing around the car, making thrashing movements, and threatening passengers.

He allegedly was throwing garbage at them. He yelled in passenger’s faces that he was “fed up” and “I don’t care if I go to jail, and if they give me life in prison,” These are words you never want to hear someone ranting in your proximity, let alone on an enclosed train car. Someone who says these things could be acting, but you don’t know. The passengers were understandably frightened.

There doesn’t appear to be video of the moments leading to Jordan Neely’s death.

It’s obvious that Penny felt that he posed a threat however. Penny, a 24 year old ex marine, came up from behind Neely, a mentally ill 30 year old, and placed him in a carotid restraint. This is another term for the earlier mentioned sleeper hold. We see two other men assisting Penny with pinning down Neely. The car is otherwise empty because the passengers fled when the train entered the station.

There are discrepancies regarding Jordan Neely’s death.

Some reports say Penny had Neely in a sleeper hold for as long as 15 minutes. Others say that it was five minutes. 15 minutes sounds excessive. The average amount of time it takes a train to go from one station to another is two minutes. Neely boarded the north bound F train at 2nd Avenue. Penny had him in a restraint by the time the train pulled into the following stop, Broadway-Lafayette. There were multiple calls made to 911. When EMTs arrived within six minutes Jordan Neely was unconscious. He was pronounced dead at the hospital. Daniel Penny was brought to a police station, but released that same evening when Neely’s death was ruled a homicide.

What is a sleeper hold or carotid restraint?

It is a usually non-lethal subduing technique. Pressure is applied to the arteries that supply oxygen to the brain. When done properly, the receiver faints within 10 seconds. The recipient isn’t killed because they can still breathe, but is incapacitated. Something went wrong when Penny did this however, leading to the untimely death of Jordan Neely.

Jordan Neely was, as previously stated, a 30 year old, mentally ill man.

That wasn’t all he was though. He was well known by many in the city as a Michael Jackson impersonator. He did a lot of his videos on the train. In his Michael Jackson videos he is vivacious and charming. Neely’s family is understandably overwrought from this horrible situation that no family should have to face. An aunt of his told reporters that he had a mental breakdown as a teenager when his mother was murdered by her boyfriend. He had been severely struggling ever since that defining moment of his life in 2007.

Daniel Penny is a 24 year old, honorably discharged marine from West Islip, Long Island.

He left the Marines with the rank of sergeant and was described in glowing terms by his superiors and peers. He is a surfing enthusiast. Leading up to this incident he has had a scrupulous record.

There is so much disinformation regarding Jordan Neely’s death being posted right now.

There are representatives (like AOC) labeling this a murder. She is saying that Penny won’t be charged with anything. The language she is using is an outright incitement to riots. Inciting riots is illegal for representatives and people working in government. It doesn’t seem professional at the very least. Comparisons are being made between this and a string of recent gun incidents. Many are saying that Jordan Neely’s death is an “innocuous murder”.

Firstly, the investigation isn’t complete yet, so that is why Daniel Penny hasn’t received any further charges.

Murder requires a motive, and from what we know Penny didn’t intend to kill Neely. Secondly, this wasn’t an unprovoked attack. The previous gun attacks were complete overreactions and didn’t have justifiable cause. Justifiable cause means that your actions were warranted because there was reason to do what you did.

It makes one wonder if any of these people have ever been a target of violence before?

When someone is screaming in your face and throwing garbage at you they are not looking for understanding. It is a deliberately aggressive act.

In New York we have laws that are the opposite of stand your ground laws.

Our laws say that if a threat is approaching us it is our responsibility to first run away. If the attacker continues pursuing us, we have a right to self-defense. When it comes to enclosed spaces however this does not apply as much, since there is no place for you to run to.

What Daniel Penny did was risky, and it appears his lack of experience led to Jordan Neely’s death.

Penny should face some consequence for that, but not a murder charge. Penny assessed Neely as a threat and attempted to subdue him, but unfortunately failed. He chose the least violent approach to physically intercept a threat. What would be the repercussions of charging Daniel Penny with murder? It might make people think twice before intervening on someone’s behalf in the future for sure.

There is a heaviness in the air lately.

There is a palpable anxiety about using the trains more than there was a few years ago. But yet people who feel this tangible sense that things are rapidly declining are dismissed as being “controlled by their emotions”. Emotions can’t be relied on alone and must be balanced by logic. The stats don’t lie however. There is something wrong. We are not merely being propagandized as some assert and would have you believe.

In four consecutive years crime has been rising in multiple categories.

According to NYPD crime records, major offenses such as murder and rape have gone down considerably since the early 2000s. Murders were the lowest they’ve been for the last 23 years in 2017 with a total of 292. But they have been steadily climbing since. Felony assault has been skyrocketing along with grand larceny. Obviously if these trends continue, crime will return to the levels seen in the early 2000s.

Unbeknownst to the passengers before Jordan Neely’s death, he had received a warrant.

In November of 2021 he was charged with the assault of a 67 year old woman. He had quite the rap sheet. Many are saying “but most of his charges were minor misdemeanors like fare evasion!” This is like saying “well, that restaurant had only five cases of salmonella poisoning!” Once is rarely forgivable. Twice is a pattern.

More often than not mental illness is not an excuse for violent behavior.

Many mentally ill people will not act aggressively even when provoked. People need to stop smugly using mental illness as a bludgeon to win the argument in regards to Jordan Neely’s death.

Perhaps Neely’s behavior was the result of a fugue state.

Maybe it was from low blood sugar. It could have been any number of things. But when you are facing a seemingly imminent threat you don’t have time to consider these intricacies. It is not someone’s responsibility to not defend their self in case their attacker is mentally ill. The ability to defend yourself needs to be an inalienable, human right even if there are poor outcomes sometimes. Jordan Neely’s death is largely on NYC’s hands because it forced this to happen.

Why are violent, mentally ill people given free rein to roam the streets and subways?

This is a completely untenable situation. One of the legal reasons is that it has been illegal to forcibly hospitalize mentally ill people. Were this a standard practice, we wouldn’t be talking about the death of Jordan Neely right now. There are legitimate arguments against it and the ethical problems forced hospitalization poses. It is something that feels wrong, but it is a necessary evil. In an ideal world we wouldn’t need it, but this isn’t an ideal world. Mayor Adams signed legislation in 2022 that would allow this. So far the results haven’t been as impactful as expected. But it’s been less than a year since this plan was put into effect.

The things preventing the forced housing of the mentally ill are a lack of provisions and resources.

We have plenty of money and we have homeless shelters. But the homeless, many of whom are mentally ill, don’t want to go them and rightfully so. Shelters are hellholes. Many would rather weather the elements. We need to do more than house the mentally ill; they need rehabilitation. A rational society would prioritize this. We need to get mental health professionals on board. It isn’t a question of money, but will. Jordan Neely’s death will be in vain if we don’t resolve this. Another incident like this is bound to happen again sooner or later.

Actions have consequences for everyone.

In a fair world Jordan Neely would still be with us. He would have been put into a rehabilitation program and spoken to mental health professionals. This isn’t a fair world though. Every one of us is approaching the world from a specific vantage point. Some have experienced more trauma than others. Some recover from trauma better than others. People grow up in all sorts of environments. They develop various coping mechanisms, good and bad. Perhaps if Daniel Penny had never intervened it would have just been a very uncomfortable train ride. But we can’t truly know either way.

Self-defense doesn’t require extreme violence to justify it.

There are laws against inciting violence for a reason, and they apply to the mentally ill too. The bottom line is if we want to live in a fairer world we cannot criminalize self-defense. NYC lacks boundaries and there is no guarantee to personal space in many respects. Self-defense must not be criminalized especially in a place like this.

The investigation of Jordan Neely’s death continues.

There are about 400 NYC subway cars equipped with cameras. All F trains have been updated with modern cars in recent years, so perhaps there is video. Let’s listen to testimony from witnesses and examine every bit of evidence and hold it up to scrutiny.

May truth and justice prevail no matter what.

A critique of Mayor Adam’s forced hospitalization legislation:

https://theappeal.org/nyc-mayor-eric-adams-involuntary-commitment/

Read our previous article on the history of lager in Bushwick:

https://172-234-236-52.ip.linodeusercontent.com/tipsy-in-brooklyn/