For the first time since a Manhattan jury acquitted him of any criminal wrongdoing in the death of Jordan Neely, Daniel Penny is speaking out about the controversial case.
In a sitdown Fox Nation interview with Judge Jeanine Pirro, Penny recounted the fateful encounter and what exactly was racing through his mind during those critical moments.
"He was just threatening to kill people," Penny said of Neely. "He was threatening to go to jail forever, go to jail for the rest of his life."
Penny said he's generally not a confrontational person, and his friends had testified at trial that he's known as a calm, collected, and empathetic individual.
However, the U.S. Marine veteran revealed that the reason why he decided to step in and subdue him was because he couldn't live with the guilt if Neely ended up hurting—or even killing—anyone had he not intervened.
"The guilt I would've felt if someone did get hurt, if he did do what he was threatening to do, I would never be able to live with myself," Penny told Pirro.
All the attention he's received in the aftermath of the incident, including strong praise from some and vilification among others, is unsolicited.
"I didn't want any attention or praise, and I still don't," Penny said, noting that the limelight is "very uncomfortable" for him.
But the pain of a trial was worth it if it meant he kept people safe that day, Penny countered. "I'll take a million court appearances and people calling me names and people hating me just to keep one of those people from getting hurt or killed."
"Women. Children. Kids going to school, coming back from school. It was what you’d expect on a normal New York City subway train or subway car," Penny recalled of the other commuters. "[One] mother was holding her child and the school kids were protecting themselves or holding each other. People were stuck to their chairs and they felt pinned and I felt pinned. I felt nervous. I felt scared."
That's when he decided he had to do something.
Penny: “The guilt I would have felt if someone did get hurt, if — if he did do what he was threatening to do, I would never be able to live with myself. And I’ll — I’ll take a million court appearances & people calling me names & people hating me just to keep one of those people… pic.twitter.com/tjXWyljVt8
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) December 10, 2024
Pivoting, Penny criticized the policies of soft-on-crime prosecutors like Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, who spearheaded the failed case against him, as politically motivated.
He expressed disbelief that "these public officials would do something so self-serving."
"But how does it serve them to hurt you?" Pirro asked Penny.
"Just political gain," Penny said pointedly.
"And I don't mean to get political," he added. "I don't really want to make any enemies, although I guess I have already."
Their progressive policies have "clearly not worked," Penny continued, and "the people, the general population, are not in support of" them.
"Yet their egos are too big just to admit that they're wrong," he charged.
Daniel Penny reluctantly criticizes soft on crime policies out of fear of making enemies:
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) December 11, 2024
"These are their policies that have CLEARLY not worked, that the people — the general population — are not in support of yet, their egos are too big just to admit that they're wrong!" pic.twitter.com/Xo4Rq2aA0b
Neely, who had an extensive criminal history and an active arrest warrant at the time of his death, acted aggressively toward other passengers, including terror-stricken women and young children trapped on the train with him. Witnesses say he threatened, "I don't give a damn. I will kill a motherf**ker. I'm ready to die."
Three days before the ordeal, a subway rider was stabbed on another train with an ice pick, according to prior reporting. In the year leading up to Penny's arrest, more than 20 people had been shoved off of subway platforms in the city.
The incidents created a climate of fear that placed New Yorkers on high alert. Penny, who remained on the scene until officers arrived, even referenced those other cases while voluntarily speaking with police.
"[Neely] was talking gibberish [...] but these guys are pushing people in front of trains and stuff," Penny told investigators.
In response to critics saying he should have released Neely sooner from the six-minute hold, Penny said letting him go quickly would have left himself in "a very vulnerable position" open to a retaliatory attack.
He had grabbed Neely from behind, placing him in a headlock, and wrestled the rampaging homeless man to the floor of the New York City subway car.
"And now I'm on the ground with him. I'm on my back in a very vulnerable position [...] If I'd just let him go, I'm on my back now. He can just turn around and start doing what he said to me [carrying out his threats of] killing, hurting," Penny explained.
"If I had just let [Neely] go… he could just turn around and start doing what he said to me – killing, hurting."
— Fox News (@FoxNews) December 10, 2024
After his acquittal, Daniel Penny reflected on the "vulnerable position" he was in when he stepped in to restrain Jordan Neely from hurting others on the subway.… pic.twitter.com/QeWxGLTRds
He noted that Neely broke out of his hold at least once and began thrashing about again, hence why he had to wrap his legs around him as well.
"He was extraordinarily strong," Penny remembered. "It's kind of the reason why I believed he was on the K2. I mean that type of strength and energy and endurance that he had during that struggle was really unlike anything I've experienced in my training ever grappling with my Marines."
"You can see in the video," Penny told Pirro, "I look over my shoulder and one of the things I say is, 'Where are the police?' I'm exhausted. I'm tired [...] I could not believe his level of endurance."