HOLDING FIRM

Subway Vigilante Daniel Penny Pleads Not Guilty to Killing Jordan Neely

The 24-year-old faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted on a manslaughter charge.

Daniel Penny, the 24-year-old vigilante captured on video choking Jordan Neely to death on a Manhattan subway last month, pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide on Wednesday. It was the expected outcome of Penny’s arraignment, as he’s insisted that Neely—who he claims threatened subway riders—may have killed someone if he didn’t intervene. Bystanders filmed Penny, a white U.S. Marine veteran, placing Neely, a 30-year-old Black man, in a chokehold for several minutes as others helped pin Neely down. An indictment unsealed Wednesday alleged Penny “recklessly caused the death of Jordan Neely.” Penny claims that he acted in self defense and never meant to kill, while Neely’s family asserts Neely was slain in cold blood. If convicted, Penny faces up to 15 years in prison. Thomas Kenniff, a defense attorney, said outside court Wednesday that Penny has “great confidence a jury of his peers” will find him not guilty.