U.S. Marine veteran Daniel Penny is celebrating his acquittal Monday at a bar in downtown Manhattan.
A cheerful Penny raised a glass with his defense attorneys Thomas Kenniff, who posted a picture of the celebration, and Steven Raiser at Stone Street Tavern in the Financial District hours after a jury acquitted him of criminally negligent homicide in the death of Jordan Neely.
Penny would have faced up to four years in prison if the jury had decided otherwise. He was previously charged with second-degree manslaughter, a more serious offense carrying a maximum sentence of 15 years behind bars, but the prosecution decided to drop that charge when the jury was deadlocked all day Friday.
Spirits were reportedly high inside the holiday-decorated bar. Pub patrons pulled out their phones to take photos with Penny, who stood trial in a months-long legal battle brought by Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg.
Penny remained stoic throughout the trial and only let out a smile in the courtroom when the forewoman read the jury's decision.
Well wishes poured in for Penny following the not-guilty verdict, including congratulations from Kyle Rittenhouse.
Congratulations on your NOT GUILTY Daniel Penny!!!!
— Kyle Rittenhouse (@ThisIsKyleR) December 9, 2024
Rittenhouse's trial consultant, who helped pick the jury that ultimately acquitted him, helped out Penny as well.
Vice President-elect JD Vance praised the outcome of Penny's case as the right one.
I have not said much about this case out of fear of (negatively) influencing the jury.
— JD Vance (@JDVance) December 9, 2024
But thank God justice was done in this case. It was a scandal Penny was ever prosecuted in the first place. https://t.co/r2Qa2IuR7i
Meanwhile, Bragg already reacted to his humiliating defeat to Penny's defense team.
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"The jury has now spoken," the Democrat district attorney solemnly said.
Leaders of the New York City Council Progressive Caucus and Black, Latino, and Asian Caucus issued a joint statement slamming the jury's finding, saying it "highlights a deep-seated societal discomfort with unhoused individuals in need of support" and "green-lights 'vigilante justice' against the most vulnerable New Yorkers."
NEW: @BLACaucusNYC leaders @CMCrystalHudson, @CMKevinCRiley join Progressive leaders @CMSandyNurse, @CMShahanaHanif, @CMJenGutierrez, @CnDelarosa to issue a joint statement on the jury decision to acquit Daniel Penny pic.twitter.com/azHCTHKy9M
— NYC Progressive Caucus (@NYCProgressives) December 9, 2024
"It sends a dangerous message, allowing straphangers to harm their fellow subway riders for making noise, begging, or showing signs of physical or emotional distress," the statement said. "If the legal and moral standards have been lowered this far, every New Yorker should be deeply concerned that the smallest misstep on public transit could result in their death."
Outside the courthouse, Jordan Neely's dad, Andre Zachery, rejected the legitimacy of the court, saying the "system is rigged."
"Come on, people. Let's do something about this," Zachery told the Black Lives Matter activists assembled before him.
JUST IN: Jordan Neely's father reacts to Daniel Penny being found innocent.
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) December 9, 2024
"What are we gonna do, people? What's gonna happen to us now? I had enough of this. The system is rigged. Come on, people. Let's DO SOMETHING about this." pic.twitter.com/FK2KNR0sOM
When Neely's mother was brutally murdered in 2007, leaving him orphaned, his father was nowhere to be found. Neely bounced around between places, eventually ending up homeless and on drugs. At age 18, Neely wanted to live with Zachery. However, in exchange, Zachery asked his son to hand over the proceeds he earned from his street performances as a Michael Jackson impersonator. Then when Neely refused, Zachery would take away his house keys and lock him out of the home, Neely's friend told New York Magazine.
Zachery is now suing Penny for stepping in to subdue Neely. According to the paperwork, Zachery is demanding damages in a cash award exceeding "the jurisdictional limits of all lower courts," a sum so large that it cannot be decided by any lower-level court and must be heard in a higher court with jurisdiction to handle such substantial claims.
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