Trumptronic
2024-12-14 07:49:57 UTC
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PermalinkThe Marine veteran was cleared of criminally negligent homicide in Jordan Neely âs 2023 death. A more serious manslaughter charge was dismissed last week.
Vance said Penny, 26, accepted his invitation to join the president-elect and him at the game.
âDanielâs a good guy, and New Yorkâs mob district attorney tried to ruin his life for having a backbone,â Vance said in a post on X. âIâm grateful he accepted my invitation and hope heâs able to have fun and appreciate how much his fellow citizens admire his courage.â
The case sparked national debate, with some hailing Penny as a hero for attempting to subdue a man he considered a menace to public safety and others seeing him as a white vigilante who choked a Black man to death.
Political figures on the right have defended Penny since he was charged for the death in May 2023. Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who ran for the GOP presidential nomination and was tapped by Trump last month to lead an effort along with billionaire Elon Musk to cut government spending, donated money to his legal defense fund.
After the acquittal, Penny gave an extensive interview to Fox News and declared heâs ânot a confrontational person.â He told the network that he wouldnât have been able to live with âthe guilt I would have felt if someone did get hurt, if he did do what he was threatening to do.â
âIâll take a million court appearances and people calling me names and people hating me, just to keep one of those people from getting hurt or killed,â Penny said.
Trump has not referred to the case publicly recently, but last year he told The Messenger that he thought Penny and other people on the subway were âin great danger.â
Some New Yorkers protested the trial outcome this week, holding signs and chanting Jordan Neelyâs name in a Manhattan square.
Vance, who served in the Marine Corps, including in Iraq, said this week that âjustice was done in this caseâ and Penny never should have been prosecuted.
Penny has been hailed a hero by many, but Neelyâs death also divided the city as residents grapple with how to respond to mental health crises threatening public safety.
Passengers said Neely hadnât touched anyone but had expressed willingness to die, go to jail or even to kill. The former street performer was homeless, had schizophrenia and had synthetic marijuana in his system. He had been convicted of assaulting people at subway stations.
https://apnews.com/article/daniel-perry-chokehold-vance-army-navy-227774aa980f18ee1c9647492e1dcfbe
