The ultra wing of the Republicans closes ranks around the ex-marine accused of suffocating a homeless man in New York

Demonstrators close to the Republican Party during a protest in favor of former Marine Daniel Penny, on Wednesday in New York.MICHAEL M. SANTIAGO (Getty Images via AFP)

The hard-line wing of the Republicans has found a new pennant as the engines of the primaries for the 2024 elections begin to roar. The white ex-marine Daniel Penny, who on May 1 caused the death by suffocation of a black homeless man with mental disorders in the New York subway, has been promoted to the platforms of heroism by the candidate for the White House Ron DeSantis, who has described the veteran as a "good Samaritan"; Nikki Haley, also a presidential candidate, who has asked the governor of New York to pardon him, or the businessman also registered in the primaries Vivek Ramaswamy, who donated $ 10,000 for his defense.

Penny choked Jordan Neely, 30, who earned a few coins as Michael Jackson's stunt double and lived on the street, after he started screaming in a subway car, saying he was hungry and didn't mind dying. The victim, who did not assault any passenger, was immobilized by the ex-military with a key around his neck that has been banned by several police departments for its dangerousness. After a few minutes Neely stopped moving and, although the episode was videotaped by a passenger, Penny was not stopped. Two weeks later — a delay widely criticized by activists and Democratic politicians — he was charged with reckless homicide and released on $100,000 bail.

The most radical Republicans have turned to Neely, as they did during the 2020 presidential campaign with Kyle Rittenhouse, a white teenager who in August of that year killed two men with an assault rifle and wounded another during a long night of protests against racism and police brutality in Wisconsin. Rittenhouse was eventually acquitted and the right has deployed all its media firepower to make Neely suffer the same fate. The media offensive goes mainly through Twitter, where its owner, Elon Musk, celebrated with a like a post of the ultra among the ultras Marjorie Taylor Greene: "Jordan Neely was a violent criminal who should have been behind bars." The Georgia congresswoman was referring to the victim's record of 40 arrests for disorderly conduct or sneaking into the subway, incidents due in part to the ups and downs of her state.

Neely's sad end does not mean for Republicans the realization that something is wrong in the care of people with mental disorders in New York, or the inhumane lives of tens of thousands of homeless people – in addition to the erratic municipal policies in this regard – but an opportunity to use the ex-marine as a battering ram against the Democrats. His judicial fate may be the least of it; the important thing for the most extremist Republican faction is to attack the Manhattan prosecutor, Alvin Bragg, on whom the instruction of the case falls and the same one who investigated and charged Donald Trump for 34 crimes related to the payment of a bribe to a porn actress.

The opportunity to feed the discourse of insecurity, which Republicans blame on Democratic administrations, has been opportunely seized. Bragg, who is also African-American, is the perfect target for his supposed lukewarmness when it comes to dealing with crime, despite the fact that current crime levels are comparable to those of a decade ago, when it happened to be the safest city in the U.S. Messages like those of Taylor Greene rain on wet. On April 17, before Neely died of "neck compression," according to the coroner, the Republican-controlled House Judiciary Committee held a rare session in New York, hearing from "victims of violent crime in Manhattan," to frame Bragg.

"They have a playbook for winning elections that is based on exploiting the worst of human nature for division and fear," said Democrat Jumaane Williams, also African-American, New York's ombudsman. "And if race and class also play a role, it's like Christmas for them." The degeneration of urban life, the breakdown of the rule of law and order, but also the fight against everything that sounds woke, have long been the republican engines. Some states under its control passed in 2020, following the wave of protests against racism, more severe penalties for demonstrators.

GiveSendGo, the fundraising page opened by Neely's lawyers, of Christian inspiration and known for hosting campaigns in support of those accused of the assault on the Capitol and the aforementioned Rittenhouse, has raised more than two million dollars as the eulogy around Neely grows fatter the more the political battle festers. "Hero," even "Subway Superman," he was called by Rep. Matt Goetz (the same one who once offered Rittenhouse an intern position once exonerated by justice). "We're lucky to have brave souls like him, willing to do the right thing," said Tim Pool, a well-known far-right podcast creator, who donated $20,000 to the cause. "We stand with good Samaritans like Daniel Penny," DeSantis tweeted, with a link to the fundraising page. "Let's show this Marine [that] the United States has his back," encouraged the new presidential candidate. "We must defeat the Soros-funded prosecutors, stop the left's pro-crime agenda, and take back the streets for law-abiding citizens," he said, echoing unconfirmed reports that financier and philanthropist George Soros orchestrated the impeachment against Trump.

"A good Samaritan helps those who have problems, he doesn't drown them," the Rev. Al Sharpton cried out at Neely's funeral at a Harlem church on May 19. While Penny's lawyers continue to cash in on Republican fervor — more than 40,000 people have contributed so far — the fundraising campaign to cover Neely's funeral and burial expenses had barely reached $130,000 last week. Far from Twitter, visible despite the quagmire it has become lately, on message boards and marginal platforms that bring together the deepest right, comments, in much more racist and violent terms, multiply along with hoaxes and misinformation. "One less black slacker on the streets of New York. Good job, soldier," read an anonymous comment on 4chan. Another asked for a rope and pole for Democrat Bragg.

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