Marine veteran Daniel Penny denied he was trying to choke Jordan Neely to death on a New York City subway last month, claiming he was just protecting passengers whom the homeless man was threatening.
Penny, 24, recounted the events leading to his altercation with Neely, 30, aboard the northbound F train on May 21 in a series of videos released by his lawyers on Sunday.
“The 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 recalled.
The 24-year-old described the encounter as a “scary situation” and said he heard Neely yelling several threats aboard the train.
DANIEL PENNY: MARINE VET ACCUSED OF FATAL SUBWAY CHOKEHOLD REVEALS WHY HE STEPPED IN
Daniel Penny, who is charged in the subway death of Jordan Neely, says he had to protect his fellow passengers. (Julia Bonavita/Fox News)
“I was listening to music at the time, and I took my headphones out to hear what he was yelling,” the East Village resident continued. “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.’”
The former Marine said despite Neely being taller than him, he “couldn’t just sit still” after hearing Neely threaten the other passengers.
Screenshot from bystander video showing Jordan Neely being held in a chokehold on the New York City subway. (Luces de Nueva York/Juan Alberto Vazquez via Storyful)
“There’s a common misconception that Marines don’t get scared,” he said. “We’re actually taught one of our core values is courage, and courage is not the absence of fear but how you handle fear. 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.”
Penny said he jumped into action to restrain Neely using a chokehold, which was captured on video, and had no intention of choking Neely to death.
WITNESS TO JORDAN NEELY CHOKEHOLD DEATH CALLS DANIEL PENNY A ‘HERO’
“Some people say that I was holding on to Mr. Neely for 15 minutes,” Penny said. “This is not true – between stops is only a couple of minutes. So the whole interaction lasted less than 5 minutes.”
Daniel Penny leaves the 5th Precinct of the NYPD on May 12, 2023. Penny is charged in connection with the death of subway rider Jordan Neely. (Julia Bonavita/Fox News Digital)
“Some people say I was trying to choke him to death, which is also not true. I was trying to restrain him,” Penny continued. “You can see in the video there’s a clear rise and fall of his chest, indicating that he’s breathing. I’m trying to restrain him from being able to carry out the threats.”
Penny is facing a manslaughter charge for Neely’s death. A medical examiner ruled that Neely died of “compression of the neck.”
Marine veteran Daniel Penny, right, is accused of fatally choking Jordan Neely on a New York City subway after the homeless man threatened passengers. (Mills & Edwards/ AllTrails)
Neely’s death spurred widespread protests across the city with many demonstrators and even politicians calling Penny a “murderer” and a racist, given that Penny is White and Neely was Black.
Penny told Fox News Digital in an interview last week that being called a racist “definitely hurts a lot” and said it has “taken a toll” on him.
In Sunday’s videos, Penny again denied that race was factor behind his actions, calling those claims “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,” Penny said. “The man who helped restrain Mr. Neely was a person of color. A few days after the incident I read in the papers that a woman of color came out and called me a hero.”
Penny said he doesn’t view himself as a hero, adding that he was just trying to protect others on the train.
