Vice President-elect J.D. Vance announced he will be bringing Daniel Penny as his guest to the 2024 Army-Navy Game on Saturday, less than a week after Penny was acquitted of criminally negligent homicide in the 2023 death of New York City subway passenger Jordan Neely.
Vance posted on X Friday that he was “grateful” that Penny, a Marine veteran like Vance, accepted his invitation.
Prosecutors in the case alleged that Penny, 26, killed Neely after putting the 30-year-old unhoused man in a chokehold.
Neely, who had reportedly been shouting and acting unstable leading up to the altercation, had a history of mental illness. Evidence later showed that he suffered from schizophrenia and was under the influence of synthetic marijuana at the time.
A witness to the incident said that Neely was being aggressive and saying that he didn’t care if he went to jail or died.
During his trial, Penny’s defense team argued that the Marine veteran was trying to protect fellow passengers from the erratic Neely.
Videos filmed by passengers showed Neely at one point, during the roughly six-minute chokehold, tapping an onlooker’s leg and gesturing to him. Later, Neely briefly got an arm free, but still went nearly a minute before being released by Penny.
“He’s dying,” a bystander said in one video. “Let him go!”
A witness who reportedly held down Neely’s arms told Penny to let Neely go, though Penny’s lawyers argued that the witness’ story changed over time.
Penny told detectives after the incident that Neely threatened to kill people, and the chokehold was to “de-escalate.” The Marine said he held on so long because Neely tried to break loose.
“I wasn’t trying to injure him. I’m just trying to keep him from hurting anyone else,” Penny said. “He’s threatening people. That’s what we learn in the Marine Corps.”
The case ignited public debate, centering on race — Penny is white and Neely is Black — mental illness and public safety.
Supporters on both sides protested numerous times outside the Manhattan courthouse during the trial.
Penny “finally got the justice he deserved,” Thomas Kenniff, one of his attorneys, told the Associated Press. Penny also had a manslaughter charge dismissed due to a deadlocked jury.
Following Penny’s acquittal, Vance weighed in on the outcome in another post on X.
Vance is expected to be joined at the game by President-elect Donald Trump, according to USA Today.
Also joining the entourage will be Pete Hegseth, Trump’s controversial pick for defense secretary, Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., Trump’s pick for national security adviser, and Navy veteran and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Todd South has written about crime, courts, government and the military for multiple publications since 2004 and was named a 2014 Pulitzer finalist for a co-written project on witness intimidation. Todd is a Marine veteran of the Iraq War.
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