The office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has decided to file criminal charges against a former Marine and current college student who put an unruly man in a chokehold on a New York City subway earlier this month.
“The Marine veteran who put Jordan Neely in a chokehold on a New York City subway train earlier this month is expected to turn himself in on Friday to face criminal charges in the case. Neely later died after the incident,” the Daily Wire reported late Thursday.
“The decision to charge 24-year-old Daniel Penny was made by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, according to a report from NBC 4 New York,” the outlet noted further.
According to subsequent reports, Penny was charged with second-degree manslaughter.
The New York Post added:
Penny, 24, surrendered at the 5th Precinct in Lower Manhattan just after 8 a.m., 11 days after Neely’s death that sparked protests and calls for accountability.
Shortly before 11 a.m., Penny, dressed in a dark suit and black sneakers, was led out of the precinct with his hands cuffed behind his back.
He looked straight ahead and kept mum in response to questions being shouted at him by reporters.
The Post noted that Penny is scheduled to be arraigned later this afternoon. It’s not clear where police took him after he was booked.
Talking to reporters outside the 5th Precinct in Lower Manhattan, where Penny was booked, his lawyer, Thomas Kenniff, said his client surrendered “voluntarily” and with “dignity.”
“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.
The city is currently grappling with significant tension following the May 1st killing of Neely, a 30-year-old who had a lengthy record of mental health concerns and more than 42 arrests, The Post reported. The manslaughter charge carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison upon conviction.
The Post said that Bragg’s office was under a great deal of pressure to seek charges, though some legal experts said they thought that he would instead punt the decision to a grand jury.
A medical examiner ruled Neely’s death a homicide from neck compression several days after the incident. Penny has said he only stepped in to protect himself and other passengers in the subway after Neely began ranting and threatening people.
