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Hero Marine Turns Himself in at Police Station

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  May 12, 2023 11:15 AM

On Thursday, Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg announced he would file manslaughter charges against former Marine Daniel Penny, the 24-year-old who put Jordan Neely in a chokehold to protect others on the subway after Neely had threatened other passengers with violence. Neely lost consciousness and later died. Penny had put Neely in a recovery position after subduing him. On Friday morning, Penny turned himself in to the police at the 5th Precinct in Lower Manhattan, as the New York Post reported. 

Although Penny did not speak or take questions from the press, his attorneys, Steven Raiser and Thomas Kenniff, did:

“This morning, Daniel Penny surrendered at the 5th Precinct at the request of the New York County District Attorney’s Office. He did so voluntarily and with the sort of dignity and integrity that is characteristic of his history of service to this grateful nation,” Kenniff, founding partner of Raiser & Kenniff, told reporters.

Kenniff said he expects his client to be arraigned Friday afternoon. He did not take any questions from reporters.

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Penny’s lawyers said Thursday they were confident their client would be absolved of any wrongdoing once all the facts come to light.

They insist Penny stepped in to protect himself and other passengers.

His lawyers, Steven Raiser and Kenniff, said in a previous statement he never meant to harm Neely.

Bragg bringing charges is a matter of bowing to public pressure from those outraged about Neely's death, though many neglect to point out his lengthy rap sheet. He had been arrested over 40 times, for instances such as trying to kidnap a seven-year-old girl. He had had a warrant out for his arrest for assaulting a 67-year-old woman in November 2021. There were also more than 40 calls for "aided cases" to do with Neely. 

Those mourning Neely's death, including squad members Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), went for a different kind of narrative, especially the former. 

Pressley's tweet of Neely was slapped with context by community notes, since this is not how Neely appeared when he died, but rather had been acting threateningly other passengers. 

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Even a fellow Democrat, Mayor Eric Adams, took issue with AOC's comments. 

To Neely's family members, though, the manslaughter charge is not enough. They are looking for murder charges to be brought, as Neely's uncle, Christopher Neely, told the Post on Thursday. Murder charges carry with them intent in New York. Neely's family will be holding a press conference on Friday morning.

This is not the first time that Bragg has brought charges against someone defending themselves and others while  otherwise being soft-on crime. In his column last week, Ben Shapiro argued that the encounter took place as a result of when police no longer do their jobs, forcing civilians to take action.

Last July, bodega worker Jose Alba was charged by Bragg with second degree murder for fatally stabbing an assailant, Austin Simon, who engaged in a rampage at his store and assaulted the bodega owner. Alba had had no criminal record and claimed self-defense. Bragg also set an exorbitant amount of bail. 

The charges were ultimately dropped after much public outcry, and it was more recently reported that Alba plans to sue the city over wrongful persecution.