NYPD detectives and Manhattan prosecutors were conferring Thursday on whether to criminally charge a Marine veteran in the caught-on-camera chokehold death of a mentally-ill Michael Jackson impersonator, police sources said.
No criminal charges have been filed but cops and members of the Manhattan District Attorney’s office were discussing whether to arrest the Marine for Jordan Neely’s death. The DA’s office is also weighing if the case should go to a grand jury to determine if charges should be brought.
As authorities continued to deliberate, A war of words erupted between city political leaders, with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez calling Neely’s death a “public murder” and Mayor Adams blasting such talk as“irresponsible.”
Neely, 30, was a familiar sight around town, performing in Times Square and on subways as the King of Pop.
The city Medical Examiner determined Wednesday that Neely died from compressions to the neck during the Monday afternoon clash with the Marine on a Manhattan F train. The death was deemed a homicide, paving the way for possible criminal charges.
The performer got on the uptown train at the Second Ave. station in the Bowery, police sources said Thursday. On the train, witnesses saw him pacing back and forth and acting erratic, as if he was about to turn violent, a police source said.
Neely had been yelling threats and throwing garbage at passengers when the Marine stepped in, witnesses told police. The Marine put the victim in a chokehold and restrained him.
A video of the confrontation shows the ex-Marine with his left arm around Neely’s neck as they struggle.
A second man helped restrain Neely, who turned on his side and continued kicking his legs until he finally stopped moving about two minutes into the chilling video.
conductor called for police, the video shows. First responders took Neely to Lenox Hill Hospital, where he died.
Five passengers called 911 before and during Neely’s fight with the Marine, cops revealed Thursday.
Callers said Neely was making threats and “harassing people,” the source said. At least one caller said Neely was “attacking people.” Other callers said the Marine was holding him until police could get there.
Neely told passengers he wanted to hit someone and was “ready to go to jail,” the source said.
The Marine was taken in for questioning but was released Monday night after police discussed the case with the DA’s office. At the time, prosecutors had not seen the video and told police that until Neely’s cause of death was determined no charges could be filed.
At least three people were cuffed Wednesday following a demonstration inside the Broadway-Lafayette station, where the chokehold happened, and a subsequent march in local streets calling for the Marine’s immediate arrest.
“There’s a lot we don’t know about what happened here,” Adams said in a Wednesday statement. “However, we do know that there were serious mental health issues in play here, which is why our administration has made record investments in providing care to those who need it and getting people of the streets and the subways.”
Ocasio-Cortez quickly slammed Adams’ ambivalent response.
“This honestly feels like a new low: not being able to clearly condemn a public murder because the victim was of a social status some would deem ‘too low’ to care about,” the Queens congresswoman tweeted.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s office said the investigation into Neely’s death was a “solemn and serious matter.”
“As part of our rigorous ongoing investigation, we will review the Medical Examiner’s report, assess all available video and photo footage, identify and interview as many witnesses as possible, and obtain additional medical records,” an office spokesman said.
The Marine joined the corps in 2017 and was discharged in 2021 with the rank of sergeant. During his tour of duty he received accolades including medals for good conduct and national defense service and service in the global war on terrorism.
He served in the Mediterranean and his last assignment was in Camp Lejeune, NC, Marine Corps officials said.
Neely had a documented mental health history with the NYPD. He suffered from schizophrenia and had told cops that he heard voices.
He had been busted 42 times across the last decade with his most recent arrest in November 2021 for slugging a 67-year-old female stranger in the face as she exited a subway station, cops said.
A warrant for his arrest on felony assault charges was issued on Feb. 23 when he didn’t show up to court to be sentenced in that case, cops said.
He was also busted in August 2015 for attempted kidnapping after he was seen dragging a young girl down an Inwood street, police sources said. Most of his other arrests were low level, many of them for turnstile jumping.
City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams found the lack of quick criminal charges against the Marine “disturbing.”
“(It) puts on display for the world the double standards that Black people and other people of color continue to face,” Adams said Thursday. “Everyone in our city and nation should be reflecting on what this incident represents and says about us.”
Neely is Black while the Marine set free after killing the performer is white.
Rev. Al Sharpton likened the Marine’s actions to that of famed subway gunman Bernie Goetz, recalling the shooting of four Black youths on a train beneath Manhattan just before Christmas in 1984.
“We cannot end up back to a place where vigilantism is tolerable,” he said. “It wasn’t acceptable then, and it can’t be acceptable now.”
“NYC is not Gotham,” city Comptroller Brad Lander tweeted Wednesday. “We must not become a city where a mentally ill human being can be choked to death by a vigilante without consequence. “
Council Speaker Adams said Neely’s mental health history and criminal record shouldn’t be used to give the Marine a pass.
“Any possible mental health challenges that Jordan may have been experiencing were no reason for his life to be taken,” she said, calling the response to Neely’s death “difficult to absorb.”