By Jake Offenhartz - The Associated Press
A U.S. Marine Corps veteran pleaded not guilty Wednesday to strangling to death a black man who behaved erratically in a New York subway car.
Daniel Penny, 24, pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree murder and criminally negligent homicide in the May 1 death of Jordan Neely, a former Michael Jackson impersonator who screamed and asked for money.
Neely, 30, lost consciousness during the struggle and was pronounced dead at a hospital.
Ex-Marine Daniel Penny arrives at Manhattan court, where he pleads not guilty to the death of Jordan Neely, Wednesday, June 28, 2023.
Earlier this month, a grand jury voted to indict Penny, who is white. Wednesday's appearance lasted just a few minutes. The suspect, who is out on bail, only uttered the words "not guilty" before leaving the courtroom with his lawyers.
Penny, who served in the Marines for four years and was discharged in 2021, has said he acted to protect himself and others from Neely, who shouted "I'm going to kill you" and said he was "ready to die" or go to jail for life.
[Lawyers for Ex-Marine who strangled Jordan Neely on New York subway argue he meant no harm]
"He was yelling in their faces saying these threats," Penny said in a video released by her lawyers. "I just couldn't sit still," he said.
Family members and advocates for Neely, who had had mental health problems and came to live on the streets, said he cried out for help and was met with violence.
"What happened to Jordan was a crime and this family should not have to be left alone," the Rev. Al Sharpton said at her funeral on May 19.
Jordan Neely's family wants to know why the former Marine didn't let go of him before choking him
May 22, 202300:29
Neely's death aboard an F-line train in Manhattan reignited the national debate about racial violence and crime.
Republican politicians such as Florida Gov. and White House hopeful Ron DeSantis hailed Penny as a hero, while activists such as Sharpton compared Neely's death to the 1984 shooting on the New York City subway, in which a white man named Bernhard Goetz shot and wounded four black men. The suspect was eventually acquitted of all charges except carrying a firearm without a license.