Daniel Penny, the Long Island man charged in the subway chokehold killing of Jordan Neely, pleaded not guilty to manslaughter charges in Manhattan on Wednesday.
The former Marine appeared alongside his lawyers for a brief court appearance two weeks after a grand jury indicted him on second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide.
Penny’s plea paves the way for a trial in the high-profile case that’s generated national attention.
When cell phone footage of Neely’s killing went viral and nobody was in custody, demonstrators took to the streets over the unaccounted killing of a poor and unarmed Black man on the subway.
Bystander video showed the 24-year-old Penny holding a writhing Neely in a minutes-long chokehold until he stopped moving. Medics transported him to hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
As calls mounted for Penny to be publicly identified and charged with Neely’s death, the Manhattan district attorney brought manslaughter charges on May 11. A grand jury indicted him about a month later.
Penny, an architecture student who was unemployed and looking for work at the time of the incident, found staunch support among right-wing politicians and Republican presidential candidates, leading to more than $3 million in donations toward his legal defense.
Neely grew up in Manhattan and New Jersey was known to many New Yorkers as a passionate Michael Jackson tribute artist. He battled severe mental illness and homelessness, according to his relatives and friends.
In prerecorded statements taped by his lawyers, Penny said he acted to protect himself and other passengers from “an erratic” Neely and didn’t regret his actions.
Still unclear is what exactly happened before the chokehold. An NYPD source previously told the Daily News that five passengers called 911 before and during the encounter.
One of the passengers said Neely was making threats and “harassing people.” Other callers said the ex-Marine was restraining Neely until the police arrived.
The Manhattan DA says Neely got on the train and started “making threats and scaring passengers” when Penny approached him from behind and put him in a chokehold.
Neely isn’t accused of attacking anyone, and the witness who filmed the viral video, journalist Alberto Vazquez, said Neely told passengers he was hungry and didn’t seem like he wanted to hurt people.
Neely got on the train at Second Ave. and was on the floor with Penny’s arm around his neck when it reached the next stop.
