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CNN Weighs in After Hero Marine Daniel Penny Breaking His Silence on Death of 'Unhoused' Jordan Neely

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  May 22, 2023 8:00 PM

Former Marine Daniel Penny spoke to the New York Post on Saturday in an exclusive interview where he claimed the hold he put Jordan Neely in while they were riding on the subway, "had nothing to do with race" and that he is "not a white supremacist." Neely, who had been acting threateningly and had been arrested dozens of times before, lost consciousness and later died. Powerful leftists with quite the platform to spread false narratives made the incident about race, though. The narrative has gotten even more bizarre with CNN's weighing in on the incident by calling Neely "unhoused."

Not only did CNN refer to Neely as "an unhoused Black man" in tweeting out a report from earlier on Monday, that report also used the term. It was the only time, though, making it even more strange, considering that "homeless" is used twice in the report, and "homelessness" is used another two times. 

The report doesn't just use a ridiculous word, it also quotes Rev. Al Sharpton without fact-checking or even adding proper additional context to his remarks. As CNN mentioned to conclude the article:

At Neely’s funeral Friday, the Rev. Al Sharpton delivered the eulogy, saying Neely “wasn’t trying to be something negative,” but wanted to “be like Michael” and “made the world smile and get on one beat.”

“We can’t live in a city where you can choke me to death with no provocation, no weapon, no threat, and you go home and sleep in your bed while my family got to put me in a cemetery. It must be equal justice under the law,” Sharpton said.

Neely was on a New York City Department of Homeless Services list of the city’s homeless with acute needs – sometimes referred to internally as the “Top 50” list – because people on the list tend to disappear, a source told CNN.

CNN also conveniently left out another detail from the funeral, which is that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) attended in a black SUV protected by security and took selfies with others in attendance. AOC has spoken out against the incident numerous times, as our friends at Twitchy have highlighted.

Penny has the support of Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), who tweeted out a crowfunding link supporting the Marine. Other Republican candidates. have thrown their support behind Penny as well. 

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Neely, who had previously been a Michael Jackson impersonator, was clearly a threat though, according to at least one witness, as Madeline highlighted. The anonymous woman also spoke to the New York Post, and expressed her willingness to testify. 

The incident of threatening behavior from Neely was also not a one-time thing. Neely had been arrested more than 40 times, including for 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. 

Astoundingly, though, none of these prior incidents are mentioned in the report. Penny "held down Neely in a fatal chokehold on the subway train May 1 after Neely began shouting at passengers that he was hungry, thirsty, had little to live for and didn’t care if he died. Penny forced 30-year-old Neely to the train floor and restrained him in a chokehold until he stopped breathing. A medical examiner ruled Neely’s death a homicide," is how CNN described the scene. 

Penny surrendered to the police earlier this month, 11 days after Neely's death, shortly after Soros-backed DA Alvin Bragg announced he was charging Neely with second-degree manslaughter. The New York Post notes it's "not clear if authorities will look to charge the other two men" who assisted Penny in restraining Neely. 

Penny is currently free on a $100,000 bail and has had to surrender his passport and cannot leave New York State without judicial approval. He has not yet been indicted and has not had to enter a please, according to CNN. 

"Unhoused" is currently trending on Twitter as people thoroughly mock and ratio CNN's tweet. 

CNN is actually not the first or only outlet to use the term, though. As Julio covered last week, Vice News, which has filed for bankrupt protection, also referred to Neely as "unhoused," in addition to equating the situation with that of Kyle Rittenhouse.