BLM Leaders Rebuke Daniel Penny Jury and Judge: 'White Supremacy'

Source: Newsweek

Published Dec 07, 2024 at 11:43 AM EST | Updated Dec 07, 2024 at 2:22 PM EST


Members of New York's Black Lives Matter (BLM) chapter rebuked the jury and judge assigned to Daniel Penny's manslaughter trial, with one activist saying on Friday that "white supremacy got another victory." Penny, a 26-year-old former U.S. Marine, faced manslaughter and criminal negligent homicide charges in the death of Jordan Neely, a 30-year-old homeless man who performed as a street artist. In May 2023, Neely, who was Black, was placed in a chokehold by the veteran from Long Island, who is white, after yelling at other passengers about being hungry in a crowded subway car in New York City.

Witnesses said Neely proclaimed that he didn't care if he lived or died and that he wanted to return to jail. Penny and some others said they heard him say he was also ready to kill. Penny, who was already on the train when Neely boarded, approached him from behind and put him in a chokehold. Several minutes of the altercation were caught on bystander video and was a key piece of evidence in the trial.

The BLM activists' remarks come after Justice Maxwell Wiley dismissed Penny's manslaughter charge after the jury said they were deadlocked on whether to convict him of the top charge. The jury will return Monday to deliberate the lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide.

Hawk Newsome, co-founder of New York's BLM chapter, told reporters outside court on Friday, "Racism is still alive and kicking in America...those among you who say that Daniel Penny is innocent, have racism and bias in your heart." "Today, white supremacy got another victory. Today, the KKK [Ku Klux Klan], the klansmen, the evil in America got another victory," Newsome said, adding, that the nation will "continue to place second-class status on Black people."

Read more: https://www.newsweek.com/blm-white-supremacy-daniel-penny-jordan-neely-trial-1997126