A House GOP lawmaker wants to award Daniel Penny with the highest civilian honor bestowed by Congress.
Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ) is planning to introduce a resolution to give Daniel Penny, a U.S. Marine veteran who defended himself and others against a rampaging homeless man aboard a busy New York City subway, the Congressional Gold Medal, Fox News learned Friday.
"Daniel Penny's actions exemplify what it means to stand against the grain to do right in a world that rewards moral cowardice," said Crane, a retired Navy SEAL.
BREAKING: Rep Eli Crane to introduce a resolution to award Daniel Penny a Congressional Gold Medal for his heroic actions pic.twitter.com/fdowMsY6dd
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"Our system of 'justice' is fiercely corrupt, allowing degenerates to steamroll our laws and our sense of security, while punishing the righteous," Crane continued. "Mr. Penny bravely stood in the gap to defy this corrupt system and protect his fellow Americans. I'm immensely proud to introduce this resolution to award him with the Congressional Gold Medal to recognize his heroism."
In the text of his House resolution, Crane said Penny "protected women and children of the city of New York, New York, from violence on May 1, 2023."
"Throughout President Biden's term as President, local governments across various cities and States failed to adequately protect residents and their property from violent criminals," reads the legislative text, according to the Fox News report.
"Daniel Penny, with others, acted to save New York City subway riders from threatening behavior by restraining a criminal — who had 42 prior arrests and an active warrant — until the police came. The courageous actions taken in response to the threat to his community by Daniel Penny, a decorated U.S. Marine Corps veteran, went beyond the civilian call of duty," Crane praised.
Furthermore, he said "Penny, with integrity and honor that is characteristic of who he is and of his honorable service in the United States Marine Corps, stepped in to protect women and children from an individual who was threatening to kill innocent bystanders."
"[H]e is a hero," Crane declared.
Penny is currently on trial for the death of Jordan Neely, who threatened fellow subway riders, including women and children, trapped in the train car with him that day.
Witnesses said Neely told them that "someone's going to die today" and did not care if he died or went to prison.
Penny intervened and grabbed Neely, placing him in a chokehold from behind for about six minutes. Neely later died.
At trial, Penny's defense argued that his actions were warranted and the prosecution cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the chokehold was what killed Neely, who had synthetic substances in his system at the time of death.
Prosecutors said Neely did not threaten anyone specifically and was unarmed. The city claimed Penny "recklessly" caused Neely's death.
Legal analysts believe the absence of clear causation means a conviction is unlikely.
On Friday, the fourth day of jury deliberations, jurors were deadlocked all day and failed to reach a verdict, prompting the prosecution to drop the top charge of second-degree manslaughter against Penny. However, the judge allowed jurors to consider the remaining charge of criminally negligent homicide, which they'll deliberate on Monday morning. If the jury is hung on the negligence charge, the case could be retried.
Penny previously faced up to 15 years in prison for the manslaughter charge. Now, the negligence charge alone carries a maximum sentence of four years behind bars.
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