MAGA’s cheering of Daniel Penny killing Jordan Neely is what white supremacy looks like
This is MAGA
Incoming Vice President J.D. Vance--the man who peddled racist lies during the 2024 campaign that Black immigrants in Ohio were eating people’s pets—was overjoyed with the news Monday that a New York city jury had acquitted Daniel Penny, who is white, of killing Jordan Neely, who is Black. Vance wrote,” Thank God justice was done in this case. It was a scandal Penny was ever prosecuted in the first place.”
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis—who banned teaching Black history in his state if it made white people “uncomfortable” and claimed slavery actually helped Blacks learn useful skills—was also overjoyed with th verdict. He took to social media to proclaim, “The acquittal of Daniel Penny is clearly the just and correct verdict” as he slammed the Black District Attorney who brought the case as the “worse prosecutor” in America.
Trump ally Rudy Guiliani--who in the past slammed the “Black Lives Matter” movement as being “inherently racist” and “anti-American” because their focus was saving Black lives—shared in the celebration of Penny being acquitted. Guiliani wrote, “Daniel Penny is a hero and deserves a medal from NYC,” as he applauded the jury for “rejecting the racist, unjust charges of Bragg, the Soros imposed DA.” Apparently to Giuliani, Manhattan Alvin DA Bragg was “racist” because he is Black and brought a case against a white man.
And the list goes on of MAGA faithful supporting Penny’s killing of Neely in a New York City subway car on May 1, 2023. I include the racist history of the above Republicans to make the point that this is not about the legal issues presented to the jury--but solely about the GOP being the guardians of white supremacy.
For those who doubt that white supremacy is the driver of the MAGA cheering, let me ask you a simple question: What if the same facts played out but Neely—who was Black—had choked the white Penny to death? Do you really think MAGA and Fox News would be cheering the Black man who choked an unarmed white man to death on the subway?! Of course not.
As to the legal case itself, the facts were not in great dispute. The jury comprised of seven women and five men--including four people of color—heard testimony since the trial began in October from more than 30 witnesses including subway riders, responding police officers, pathologists, a psychiatric expert, Penny’s friends, relatives and others.
The pivotal facts were that on May 1, 2023, 30-year-old Neely-–who has a long-documented history of mental illness--entered a New York City subway car. At that point, Neely per the witnesses at trial, began yelling he was hungry and thirsty and didn’t care if he died or went to jail. Neely didn’t brandish a weapon nor claim he had one. Some passengers testified they were afraid of Neely and feared for their lives while others simply viewed Neely as the run of the mill disturbance we frequently see on the subway.
At that point, the 26-year-old Penny-a US Marine Corp veteran--put Neely in a choke hold for six minutes telling the police he did so because he “saw a man threatening passengers — a lot of whom were people of color.” The jury also heard that one passenger had yelled at Penny while he was choking Neely, “He’s dying,” and “Let him go!” Neely would later die with the city medical examiner ruling the cause of death was Penny’s choking of him.
In the end, the jury deadlocked on the manslaughter charge—which the DA then dismissed. And on Monday, the jury unanimously acquitted Penny of the remaining charge of criminally negligent homicide. I didn’t watch the trial so I can’t comment on the way the prosecution presented the case but clearly the jury was not convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that Penny had committed a crime.
Again, though, if the situation was reversed with Penny being the person screaming on the subway and a Black Neely choking Penny to death, do you really think MAGA would be cheering the verdict?! As a reminder, after George Zimmerman was acquitted of murdering Trayvon Martin in 2013, 86 percent of African-Americans expressed dissatisfaction with the verdict compared with just 30 percent of whites. If a Black person is killed—even in the case of Trayvon who was doing nothing but walking home—we will see the white right support it.
Even in the case of the brutal murder of George Floyd, nearly 50% of Republicans thought the conviction of police officer Derek Chauvin was the “wrong verdict.” That is not a typo. Nearly one in two Republicans didn’t agree that Chauvin—who was white—should be convicted of killing Floyd. Again, that view has nothing to do with the legal issues and everything to do with the race of Floyd and Chauvin.
Just attempting to hold Penny accountable saw DA Bragg and his office get targeted by the racist white right. As Bragg stated Monday, he regretted that “over the duration of this trial, talented career prosecutors and their family members were besieged with hate and threats — on social media, by phone and over email.”
After Monday’s verdict, the NAACP released a statement that read in part that they were “deeply disappointed by today's jury decision in the tragic death of Jordan Neely.” Adding, “This case sets a dangerous precedent by embracing vigilantism and disregarding the sanctity of human life.”
Hawk Newsome, co-founder of New York's BLM chapter, was even more blunt stating, "Today, white supremacy got another victory,” adding, that this is more proof that the nation will "continue to place second-class status on Black people."
Neely’s father responded to the verdict by calling it “rigged,” emotionally adding, “I just want to say, I miss my son. My son didn't have to go through this. I didn't have to go through this either. It hurts, really, really hurts." Neely’s father last week filed a civil lawsuit seeking damages against Penny for the killing of his son.
The system failed Neely who was in desperate need of help. But the right doesn’t care about that. All they see is a victory for white supremacy.
I don’t care what the jury decided. When you put somebody in a chokehold and see that they can’t breathe, and you continue, you are guilty of manslaughter at least!
And this is just the beginning of what we all can expect for at least the next four years. UGH!