Overview

The Killing of Jordan Neely refers to the death of Jordan Neely, a homeless 30-year-old Black man, by Daniel Penny, a 24-year-old white Marine veteran, who put Neely in a chokehold in order to restrain him after he reportedly behaved erratically on the New York City subway in early May 2023. Neely's death sparked widespread debate on social media and was followed by protests in New York and other cities around the U.S. Daniel Penny turned himself in and was charged with manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide, with a request for dismissal of his charges denied.

The trial took place between October and December 2024, with Penny ultimately being acquitted. The acquittal, which coincided with the timing of the assassination of the UnitedHealthcare CEO and the arrest of the primary suspect Luigi Mangione, became a viral subject of discussions, memes and other reactions in December 2024.

Background

On May 1st, 2023, Jordan Neely, a homeless 30-year-old homeless man, boarded an F train on the New York City subway. As the train departed, Neely reportedly started to loudly yell, "I don't have food, I don't have a drink, I'm fed up," and that he didn't care if he was sent to jail and got a life sentence.^[1] Neely entered a scuffle with Daniel Penny, a 24-year-old former Marine traveling the same train, who placed Neely in a rear naked choke.^[18]

According to Juan Alberto Vázquez,^[1][2] a freelance journalist who filmed^[3] three minutes of the incident, Penny held Neely in the position for nearly 15 minutes. During this time, Penny and other passengers requested police to arrive at the scene. The video filmed by Vázquez shows that Penny was assisted by two other men and that passengers who stayed in the subway car expressed support for Penny's actions.

After Neely became motionless, Penny placed Neely on his side to prevent him from choking on his own spit. At 2:30 p.m., after receiving a call about a fight at 2:27 p.m., the New York Police Department arrived at the scene,^[4] administering first aid to unconscious Neely. Neely then was taken to Lenox Hill Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.^[5]

On May 1st, 2023, freelance journalist Juan Alberto Vázquez uploaded a three-minute-long recording of Penny holding Neely in the chokehold on the subway car's floor to Facebook,^[3] from there, it was reposted on other social media.

On May 2nd, the New York Post reported on the incident with an interview with Vázquez, with the story going viral on social media in the following days.

Developments

The incident drew more public attention in the following days as media reported on it and on public's reactions to it^[6][7] On May 3rd, 2023, U.S. representative for New York's 14th congressional district Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) tweeted about the incident, writing that Jordan Neely "was murdered." The tweet^[8] (shown below) received over 10,300 retweets and 63,000 likes.

That evening, NYC Mayor Eric Adams was asked about AOC's tweets on CNN Primetime,^[19] where he stated, "I don’t think that’s very responsible at the time where we are still investigating the situation." On May 4th, 2023, NYPD released an official statement on the incident, requesting witness information.^[4]

That day, CNN^[20] published an article reporting that Neely had 42 arrests, including three unprovoked assaults on women in the subway between 2019 and 2021. That same day, NY Daily News^[21] reported that Neely was arrested in August 2015 for attempting to kidnap a 7-year-old girl and in June 2019 for "punching a 64-year-old man in the face."

Protests

On May 4th, 5th, 6th and 8th, 2023, multiple protests in support of Jordan Neely took place in New York, including the Broadway-Lafayette Street station where the incident took place. Most notably, on May 6th, protesters blocked incoming trains by climbing down subway tracks on the Lexington Avenue–63rd Street station. On that day, Freedomnews.tv journalist Oliya Scootercaster shared footage from the protest on Twitter,^[13] with the clip gaining over 10.9 million views, 5,800 retweets and 30,800 likes in 10 days (full video shown below).

Manslaughter Charge

On May 11th, 2023, Manhattan prosecutors said Danie Penny would be arrested and face a charge of second-degree manslaughter, which could carry a term of up to 15 years in prison.^[9]

On May 12th, Penny surrendered to police to face the charge,^[10] and was released on a $100,000 bail on the same day.

Fundraisers

On May 3rd, 2023, Jordan Neely's aunt Carolyn Neely organized a GoFundMe fundraiser to cover expenses for Neely's funeral and the public viewing.^[11] The campaign raised $130,000 of its $75,000 goal in two weeks.

On May 8th, New York City law firm Raiser & Kenniff, P.C. launched a fundraiser for Daniel Penny's legal defense fund on GiveSendGo.^[12] The campaign raised over $2.2 million in one week.

Court Trial and Acquittal

On June 14th, 2023, Daniel Penny was officially indicted by the grand jury.^[22] On January 17th, 2024, Penny's legal team's request for a dismissal of his charges was denied.^[23]

Penny's trial began on October 21st, 2024, with nearly all jurors reporting having prior knowledge of the incident.^[24] The start of the trial marked a surge in interest toward the case on social media, with users sharing their reactions on social and calling for either sentencing or acquittal of Penny.

On December 2nd, closing arguments were delivered. On December 5th, Jordan Neely's father filed a lawsuit against Penny, accusing him of negligent contact, assault and battery that caused Neely's death.^[25]

On December 6th, 2024, following a jury deadlock, the manslaughter charge against Penny was dismissed.^[26] On December 9th, Penny was found not guilty of the remaining charge of criminally negligent homicide.^[27]

Online Reactions

Jordan Neely's death and further developments sparked discussions on social media as users shared footage of the incident and voiced support for Neely or Penny. In early May 2023, several TikTok videos in which users commented on the incident went viral on the app.

For example, on May 3rd, 2023, TikTok^[14] user @davidawilliams4 posted a video in which she reported on the incident gained over 997,000 views and 130,000 likes (shown below, left). On May 6th, TikTok^[15] user @growingtotruth posted a video that gained over 616,000 views and 62,000 likes in nine days (shown below, right).

On Twitter, multiple single tweets and threads reporting on the incident and commenting on it went viral in early May. For example, a thread^[16] about the incident posted by user @KeneAkers on May 6th, 2023, gained over 1,400 retweets and 5,100 likes in nine days (shown below, left).

On May 11th, user @AmiriKing tweeted^[17] his concern with Penny getting charged with manslaughter. The tweet received over 4,400 retweets and 20,400 likes in four days (shown below, right).

Penny's Acquittal Reactions

Following Penny being found not guilty in December 2024, the trial and jury's decision became a viral subject of discussions on social media. Some users celebrated the decision, while others were critical of Penny not getting sentenced.

As the timing of the final part of the trial coincided with the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and the following arrest of the prime suspect Luigi Mangione, posts and memes referencing both cases were widely circulated in mid-December 2024.

For example, on December 9th, 2024, X^[28] user @soulkhan made a post that received over 8,900 reposts and 47,000 likes in one day (shown below).

Later on December 9th, X^[29] user @PatrickJBlum made a post that garnered over 2,000 reposts and 35,000 likes in one day (shown below).

Search Interest

External References