Protesters arrested on misdemeanor charges during demonstrations over Jordan Neely’s killing last month will not face prosecution in Manhattan, the district attorney’s office said Friday.
Prosecutors moved to dismiss charges against an unspecified number of protesters at multiple court appearances which concluded last week, according to Doug Cohen, a spokesman for DA Alvin Bragg. He said the decision followed a thorough evaluation that included combing extensive CCTV footage of the arrests.
“After a comprehensive review, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office has declined to prosecute or dismissed all misdemeanor cases related to Jordan Neely protests,” Cohen said. “These matters are now sealed.”
Prosecutors will proceed with cases against three people arrested during the protests on felony charges.
After authorities let 24-year-old Long Island man Daniel Penny walk free after putting Neely in a fatal chokehold aboard a northbound F train on May 1, demonstrators took to the streets — some to the subway tracks — to protest his death.
Viral footage of the incident shows the former Marine sergeant with his arm clenched around Neely’s neck as he struggled to break free for several minutes and then stopped moving. Police questioned Penny and released him, with the city medical examiner ruling 30-year-old Neely’s death a homicide two days later.
As calls for Penny’s arrest reached a fever pitch, Bragg’s office charged him with manslaughter on May 11 and began presenting the case to a grand jury, which returned an indictment on June 14. Penny, who’s out on $100,000 bail, is expected to plead not guilty to manslaughter charges at his State Supreme Court arraignment next week.
Prosecutors say Penny approached from behind and subdued Neely as he was “making threats and scaring passengers” on the train. Neely has not been accused of physically attacking or attempting to attack anyone before he was taken down. He boarded the subway at Second Ave. and was on the floor with Penny when it reached the next stop.
Five passengers who called 911 before and during the encounter gave conflicting reports, according to NYPD sources. One said Neely was harassing and threatening people. Two others incorrectly stated he had a “knife or a gun” and had been “attacking people.”
Neely’s relatives say he battled severe mental illness and was homeless at the time of his death. When he was on steadier footing, he was recognizable to many New Yorkers as a moon-walking Michael Jackson tribute artist.
In statements taped by his attorneys, Penny, an architecture student living in the East Village, forcefully denied that racism informed his actions. He said he restrained an erratic Neely out of fear he would attack him or women and children on the subway and believed he had done the right thing.
Republican presidential candidates, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, have gone to bat for Penny, hailing him as a hero on the campaign trail and generating millions of big-dollars donations toward his legal defense.
Penny’s lawyers initially pointed to Neely’s arrest record and mental health history in defending his actions. Neely, arrested dozens of times for primarily low-level offenses, had been accused in recent years of violent encounters, such as punching a 67-year-old woman in the face.
But Neely’s relatives, supporters, and various civil rights leaders have refuted that argument because Penny could not have known Neely’s background.
“The Manhattan grand jury saw right through his false narrative by voting to move this case forward,” the Rev. Al Sharpton said after Penny’s recent indictment.
“While they should be saluted for this righteous step, we wish the charge would have reflected what this really was: murder.”