Jillian Snider, policy director for R Street's Criminal Justice and Civil Liberties, told CNN on Friday Jordan Neely's extensive criminal history should not factor in how he died because no one involved in the incident was aware about it.
Neely was put in a chokehold and subdued by passengers in New York City's subway system after he was screaming and threatening people on the train. He died after police and EMS arrived on scene. The man who had Neely in the chokehold is a Marine veteran and so far has not been charged with anything, though Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office is investigating.
"...Neely, which, obviously, this Marine wouldn’t have known this, had 42 arrests and also had three assaults between 2019 and 2021 on the subway for unprovoked attacks in the subway on females. How does that factor into how this is viewed?" CNN host Kaitlan Collins asked.
"It shouldn’t, because at the time of the incident no one knew Mr. Neely’s background, no one knew he had any kind of criminal history. Again, we can speculate now, oh, he had issues, he had 42 arrests, he was charged with assault on the subway system, but again, that’s all after the fact. So I don’t think that should be weighed in right now," said Snider, a former NYC police officer.
BLM protests have taken place, calling for murder charges to be brought against the man. It does not appear race was a factor in the situation, though the Left has once again claimed this is an example of white people killing black people with impunity.
He was 30 years old.
— Ayanna Pressley (@AyannaPressley) May 4, 2023
Black men deserve to grow old—not be lynched on a Subway because they were having a mental health crisis.
Jordan deserved better. Accountability now. pic.twitter.com/aX5qcryrbx