Global Courant 2023-05-06 07:19:16
Hundreds of protesters gathered in New York City on Friday calling for charges against a former U.S. Marine who put a fellow subway passenger in a chokehold that killed him.
Protesters displayed signs reading “Justice for Jordan Neely” and “Being poor is not a crime” at a protest in Washington Square Park in lower Manhattan on Friday night.
Earlier, the New York Young Communist League protested outside the Manhattan district attorney’s office demanding that the unidentified man who killed 30-year-old Neely on Monday be charged. Protesters also demanded an investigation from the police who, according to local media, let him go after questioning.
The former Marine, who put Neely in a chokehold while they both rode the F train, has not been charged. The district attorney’s office said it is investigating and would review the medical examiner’s report, which ruled Neely’s death a homicide due to neck compression.
The investigator’s ruling alone does not imply intent or guilt, matters that prosecutors will consider when deciding whether to bring criminal charges.
Jordan Neely was lynched.
He had no food, no water, no safe place to rest. He had the guts to publicly scream about that huge injustice, so they killed him. pic.twitter.com/LBSl1aMiQz
Neely, who was black, was homeless, according to local media reports. The 24-year-old former Marine, who was white, was questioned by police and released on Monday, local media said. Local protest organizers called the act a “lynching” and an example of “white vigilance” against victims of color.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams cited mental health issues as a factor in the incident, but said he would not comment further during the investigation.
A spate of attacks on rail passengers last year, particularly Asian Americans, prompted Adams to deploy more police patrols and expand the reach of the mentally ill in the subway system, citing rising homelessness in the wake of the pandemic.
Video of the incident circulated on social media showed an unidentified passenger performing a chokehold on a man identified as Neely on the floor of a subway train for more than three minutes. In the video, two other men can be seen holding Neely’s arms back before he went limp.
Police officers were seen outside a subway where Neely was killed on Monday. (Paul Martinka/The Associated Press)
Reuters was unable to verify the authenticity of the video.
Neely was known for impersonating Michael Jackson, dressed and dancing like the legendary music performer on New York’s busy trains and stations. The confrontation occurred after he boarded the train and began yelling at passengers that he was hungry and ready to die, The New York Times reported, citing police.
Democratic U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, whose district includes neighborhoods in the New York boroughs of the Bronx and Queens, said Neely was killed and called for his killer’s arrest
