The death of a 30-year-old man on a New York City subway, which has been ruled a homicide by the city's medical examiner, has prompted vastly different responses from New York Democrats.
On Monday, the homeless passenger, Jordan Neely, died after another passenger, a Marine veteran, put him in a chokehold over his reportedly unruly and threatening behavior toward others on the subway.
"Any loss of life is tragic. There's a lot we don't know about what happened here, so I'm going to refrain from commenting further," Adams said in a press statement. "However, we do know there were serious mental health issues in play here which is why our administration has made record investment in providing care to those who needed it and getting people off the streets and subways, and out of dangerous situations. And I need all elected officials and advocacy groups to join us in prioritizing getting people the care they need and not just allowing them to languish."
Adams' measured response, urging caution before jumping to conclusions about the case, did not sit well with New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
The lawmaker, who had been quick to condemn Neely's death as "murder," said Adams' statement felt like a "new low."
Jordan Neely was murdered.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) May 3, 2023
But bc Jordan was houseless and crying for food in a time when the city is raising rents and stripping services to militarize itself while many in power demonize the poor, the murderer gets protected w/ passive headlines + no charges.
It’s disgusting. https://t.co/YJeQp9bbgE
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.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) May 3, 2023
The last sentence is especially rich from an admin trying to cut the very services that could have helped him. https://t.co/0DtXl9DOO5
Fellow Squad member Rep. Jamaal Bowman of New York echoed her sentiments.
"Black men seem to always be choked to death," Bowman said Wednesday. "Jordan Neely did not have to die. It's as simple as that. Yet we have another Black man publicly executed."
Commenting on AOC's outrage, Adams said during an interview with CNN that he didn't think it was "very responsible at a time when we're still investigating the situation."
"Let's let the DA conduct his investigation with the law enforcement officials, to really interfere with that is not the right thing to do," he continued. "And I'm going to be responsible and allow them to do their job and allow them to determine what exactly happened here."
Ben Shapiro argued the fatal encounter is what you get when police no longer do their jobs – civilians step in to fill the void.