We All Share Blame For Jordan Neely’s Tragic Death
Daniel Penny wasn’t the only one who killed Jordan Neely, a homeless man with psychiatric illnesses; we all share the blame for the tragedy.
It is much easier to focus on Penny, a 24-year-old, former Marine, and to ask whether he was justified in taking down Neely, 30, and putting him in a fatal neck hold while others helped subdue the man on the floor of a New York City F-train headed uptown in early May.
It is much harder to look in the mirror at how many of us perceive of people with psychological, developmental or physical differences and what we would like to see done to them, rather than for them.
Neely was African American and Penny is white but this is less about racism and more about bias against people with psychiatric issues.
There are so many people like Neely who desperately need help, whether it is psychological counseling or aid in finding safe housing. We know them and we stand by as they fall through the cracks of our so-called civilized systems and sink further into their personal hell or die.
He is the guy who is laid out in the early afternoon and dozing in the shadow of a skyscraper, while he is covered in newspapers in an effort to stave off the freezing cold as pedestrians nearly step over him, as they would a stray dog, and hurry on their way.
She is the bedraggled, dirty woman who pushes her shopping cart along the street, brimming with the flotsam of her life, while she screams in an animated, non-stop conversation with herself. He is the panhandler who approaches your car, stopped at a busy intersection, and begs for money to buy food, while you quickly close your window and silence the beggar as he continues to tap on the window for your attention before the light changes and you can drive safely away to get home in time for dinner.
People with psychiatric illnesses are far more likely to be victims rather than perpetrators. They may be psychotic, they have have auditory and visual hallucinations, they may be on the autism spectrum and are react loudly because they are ultra-sensitive to loud noises, like the steady drone of the traffic on busy New York City streets.
Their odd and striking demeanor can easily be mistaken for aggressiveness when it is nothing more than the way they try to cope with their excruciatingly difficult existence.
We wish they would just disappear or be shifted to a hospital somewhere far away. And often, we wish someone had the guts to make them disappear so that we don’t have to listen to their craziness, smell their unremitting body odor or just feel guilty about a fellow human. This is where Penny comes in, ready and willing to make sure that Neely could not hurt anyone, even if it meant ending Neely’s life. There were no audible cheers but there also was no strong reaction to stand up and stop Penny. More likely, the straphangers were silently behind Penny, hoping he would do what they couldn’t do.
For the record, Neely talked menacingly about his madness and sadness and how he didn’t want to live but he did not accost anyone or even indicate he planned to hurt anyone, except maybe himself. Penny was not justified in what he did, regardless of what he thought Neely might do. If that was the case, people with psychiatric illnesses would be dropping like flies to those self-appointed protectors of the relatively, healthy rest of us.
Psychiatric illness and subsequent homelessness are pandemic and the society is doing pitiful little in response. Penny had a solution that many apparently have cheered on. He has raised nearly $700,000 so far on GoFundMe, which calls itself “The #1 Free Christian Fundraising Site.” In its narrative, the website didn’t have the decency to identify Neely but instead refers to him as an “assailant who later died.” The website defends Penny, described as “a 24-year-old college student and decorated Marine veteran, facing a criminal investigation stemming from him protecting individuals on a NYC subway train from an assailant who later died.”
Funds raised will pay Penny’s legal fees from any criminal charges or future civil lawsuits while money raised in excess of legal costs will be donated to an unidentified “mental health advocacy” program in New York City. Visitors to the Gofundme site are also encouraged to press a “pray” button to send prayers for Penny. Again, there is no room for prayers for Neely.
Penny has been charged with manslaughter but a sampling of the supportive comments on the Gofundme page are similar to past reactions to dozens of others supported by GoFundMe. They include MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, who promoted trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election; and Enrique Tarrio, former leader of the military right wing Proud Boys, who was arrested on the way to Washington, D.C., with high-capacity magazines two days before the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
Another GoFundMe campaign has raised $166,896 for Dr. Scott Jenson and his campaign to “Stop the weaponization of government agencies.” Jenson was the losing, Republican nominee for governor of Minnesota in the 2022 election. Among other issues, later found to be false, Jensen had said the U.S. COVID-19 death toll was being inflated; Jensen also criticized the use of medical procedures for transgender teenagers and has opposed gender identify affirmation in schools.
GiveSendGo has also provided a platform for police officers involved in controversial uses of force. They include the police officer charged with killing George Floyd, an officer who pulled the trigger in the raid on Breonna Taylor’s apartment, and the Wisconsin officer who shot Jacob Blake. Authorities have since declined to file criminal charges against any officers for Taylor’s death or for the shooting of Blake. The officer charged with Floyd’s killing is awaiting trial.
Another who benefited by a GoFundMe page was Kyle Rittenhouse, on whose behalf almost $600,000 was raised for his legal defense.
Rittenhouse was a 17-year-old self-professed white supremacist, when he shot three men, two fatally, during the civil unrest in Kenosha, Wis., in August 2020. At his trial in November 2021, his defense lawyers argued he had acted in self-defense. Rittenhouse was found not guilty on all charges.
Rittenhouse supporters included then-president trump and former Fox News commentator, Tucker Carlson.
Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis never misses a chance to score political points from tragedies, whether it is about immigrants entering the country illegally or in coming to the support of Penny.
DeSantis said Penny was acting as a “Good Samaritan” and shared a link to the GoFundMe page.
“We stand with Good Samaritans like Daniel Penny. Let’s show this Marine… America’s got his back,” DeSantis wrote on Twitter.
Penny is being represented by Steven M. Raiser and Thomas A. Kenniff, founding partners of the New York lawfirm of Raiser & Kenniff, P.C., noted on the website as “International Military Criminal Lawyers.”
Among those who posted in support of Penny, one anonymous donor gave $25 and wrote, “Don’t give up or give in. God bless you. The world is pulling for you!”
“Attacking this hero is a travesty of Justice. New York and the United States should be ashamed,” posted Alfred Sletten who gave $50.
“Thank you for serving our country and thank you for serving the citizens on that subway. You stepped up to the call of duty in both cases and justice will be served,” said an anonymous donor of $25.
“The death of Neely was tragic but it’s not your fault, he shouldn’t have been out there in the first place,” said another donor of $50.
“Rather ride a subway with a Marine instead of a crazy person with a death wish,” said another donor who gave $25.
The death of Neely has similarities to a Dec. 22, 1984, incident involving Bernhard Goetz, the so-called “Subway Vigilante.” Goetz was on a New York City subway train when he shot four young Black teenagers after they allegedly tried to rob him. All four teenagers survived, although Darrell Cabey was paralyzed and suffered brain damage as a result of his injuries.
Goetz was charged with attempted murder, assault, reckless endangerment, and several firearms offenses. A jury subsequently found Goetz guilty of one count of carrying an unlicensed firearm and acquitted him of the remaining charges. For the firearm offense, he served eight months of a one-year sentence. In 1996, Cabey obtained a $43 million civil judgment against Goetz, equivalent to $74 million in 2021.