By AboutLife @Adobe Stock
Not Able to Just Sit There
In what William McGurn writes is a “stinging rebuke to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg,” Christmas comes early for Daniel Penny.
On Friday, the judge dismissed the more serious charge of second-degree manslaughter after the jury informed him it was deadlocked. Many expected the jury would find Mr. Penny, 26, guilty of the lesser charge, or at least deadlock on that as well. Instead, the jury acquitted him.
Some activists in NY were looking for the whole incident to become New York’s version of George Floyd. Floyd’s death in 2020 energized Black Lives Matter, which in turn promoted defunding the police. Mr. Penny was accused of immobilizing Neely with a chokehold reminiscent of Floyd that stayed on too long, which the city’s medical examiner said caused Neely’s death.
Prosecutorial Madness
Not all the events run parallel to George Floyd’s. Ex-Marine Daniel Penny is now an architectural student. Penny, a private citizen, was never a cop. But according to the Progressive narrative, that made no difference.
(AG) Bragg perp-walked Mr. Penny through the system, and by including the lesser charge in his indictment plainly thought he could guarantee a guilty verdict on at least something.
The Penny trial attracted national attention. For the George Floyd activists, the whole incident confirms their view that the American justice system is structurally racist. But ordinary Americans without racial axes to grind saw Mr. Penny’s trial as an example of prosecutorial madness—the inability to distinguish the good guys from the bad. Fathers hope there will be a Daniel Penny on the train every time their daughters ride the subway.
Neely was on the City’s top 50 list of homeless in desperate need of help. He never should have been on the streets. The city failed Neely, according to NYC Mayor Eric Adams.
Then there’s Mr. Penny. A Marine puts his strength at the service of those unable to fight for themselves. Today it’s common to lament the state of American manhood, that men can’t be counted on. Yet when a good man does step forward, he is treated—literally, in New York—as a criminal.
That is the signal sent by Mr. Bragg’s prosecution. Many parents, watching all that Mr. Penny has been put through, will tell their sons: “If you see trouble, don’t get involved.”
Mr. McGurn writes of Neely’s undeniably tragic life “But the hard truth is that he is responsible for setting off the course of events that led to his own death.”
Mr. Penny is by no means out of legal jeopardy. Monday’s verdict may have cleared him of criminal liability, but Neely’s father filed a civil suit against Mr. Penny. Mr. Penny’s legal defense fund has raised more than $3 million. Before he can get back his life, he may need every nickel.
Daniel Penny could have looked away. But he didn’t. Instead he came to the aid of fellow passengers who were terrified by Jordan Neely when he boarded their crowded subway car and ranted that “someone’s going to die today.” Perhaps the best explanation of what went down and why comes from Mr. Penny himself.
Getting a Grip on Fear
Daniel Penny pushes back against the misconception of Marines not being scared. Rather, he explains, it’s how you react to it.
“One of our core values is courage, and courage is not the absence of fear but how you handle fear. I was scared for myself but I looked around and saw women and children, and he was yelling in their faces saying these threats.”
“I couldn’t just sit still.”
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