A New York City councilwoman is calling for the incoming Trump administration to launch a civil rights probe against the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office for its handling of the Daniel Penny subway choking case, accusing District Attorney Alvin Bragg of being racist.
"It’s really simple. The Manhattan D.A. has made this racial. We have seen what A.G. Bragg has been capable of and has tried to pursue, and I think between Trump and now, this is the icing on the cake, with Penny,” Vickie Paladino told Fox & Friends First on Tuesday.
Bragg, whose office convicted Trump on 34 counts of falsifying business records as part of a conspiracy to corruptly influence the 2016 presidential election, has been a frequent target of criticisms from the Republican and his supporters.
“They make it a vendetta. He is definitely political,” Paladino added. “This is politicized, and I think he needs to be investigated. I think the whole DA’s office in Manhattan needs to be investigated.”
The Independent has contacted the District Attorney’s Office for comment.
Bragg, Manhattan’s first Black district attorney, presided over the office in 2023 when it launched the prosecution against Penny, a white 26-year-old who put Jordan Neely, a homeless Black man, in a chokehold for nearly six minutes on a subway car after the latter man began making threatening statements to passengers. Penny was acquitted on Monday.
Prosecutors did not accuse Penny of being racist, but rather of using excessive, lethal force on Neely. During the closely watched trial, they argued Penny’s initial attempt to defend his fellow passengers was understandable and “even laudable,” but that the student went too far.
"You obviously cannot kill someone because they are crazy and ranting and looking menacing, no matter what it is that they are saying," Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Dafna Yoran told jurors during closing arguments.
After the verdict, some argued the result itself was racist.
Outside the Manhattan courtroom where the acquittal took place, Gwen Carr, the mother of Eric Garner, a Black man choked to death by New York police in 2014, spoke to reporters, arguing that the 2023 subway incident fit into a larger pattern of white people using unchecked force against Black people.
“I stood here ten years ago because they did not give justice to my son with the chokehold,” she said, detailing her efforts to pass an anti-police chokehold bill.
“No one deserves to be choked to death,” she added, claiming it “would’ve been a different story” if Neely had choked someone like Penny. “There’s two justice systems.”
Trump has frequently lashed out against Bragg using racist tropes, including calling the official “lazy,” an “animal,” and a “thug.” Trump has also accused Bragg of being “racist” against him.
On the campaign trail, Trump vowed to seek “revenge” and “retribution” against those he believes have wronged him and his supporters.
