Jordan Neely's uncle calls for no plea deal for Daniel Penny over subway chokehold death

Jordan Neely’s uncle says the ex-Marine accused of placing the homeless street performer in a fatal chokehold aboard a subway train should not get a plea deal, or ‘he will do it again.’

Christopher Neely also called for the two men seen helping Daniel Penny hold Neely down during the deadly May 1 encounter on the F train to face criminal charges.

‘He needs to be prosecuted or he will do it again,’ Christopher told The New York Post on Sunday. 

‘It’s a smack in the face for Jordan’s family and the people of New York.’ 

Penny faces a manslaughter charge in connection to Neely’s death, and he was charged after protests called for him to be arrested. 

Penny broke his silence on Saturday to say that Neely’s death had nothing to do with race, noting that he did what he believed was right and would behave the same way if he were put in the same situation again.

Neely’s uncle said Penny shouldn’t be offered a plea deal by the Manhattan DA’s Office, which charged him with second-degree manslaughter for the caught-on-camera incident

‘I want this to go to trial,’ Christopher said. ‘He has too much confidence in himself and has to be taught what he did was wrong.’

Penny had said: ‘I judge a person based on their character. I’m not a white supremacist.’

The now-infamous video showed Penny restraining Neely with the help of two other passengers after the homeless Michael Jackson impersonator reportedly screamed threats and intimidated people on the train.

The other riders who helped restrain Neely on the train have not been publicly identified, and police are seeking them for questioning. 

Neely’s funeral was held on Friday in Harlem, where Rev. Al Sharpton delivered a fiery eulogy to a crowd of hundreds, saying ‘when they choked Jordan, they put their arms around all of us.’

But Penny, who is currently free on a $100,000 bail, rejected the suggestion that his fatal confrontation with Neely was an act of hatred or discrimination, saying, ‘this had nothing to do with race.’  

‘I mean, it’s, it’s a little bit comical. Everybody who’s ever met me can tell you, I love all people, I love all cultures,’ Penny told the Post.

‘You can tell by my past and all my travels and adventures around the world. I was actually planning a road trip through Africa before this happened.

‘I’m a normal guy,’ added Penny, insisting that he is not a vigilante.

Penny, who is from Long Island, faces 15 years in prison in a case that has been highly polarizing, with conservative politicians jumping to defend him, and prominent liberals calling for him to be convicted of murder and jailed. 

He said he does not watch the news and that while he was aware of negative opinions about him, he tried not to let them affect him.

‘If you’re faced with all these challenges, you have to remain calm,’ he said. 

‘What’s the point of worrying about something, worrying is not going to make your problems disappear.

‘I attribute this to my father and grandfather. They are very very stoic.’

Penny also said he had quit social media years ago.

‘I don’t follow anyone, and I don’t have social media because I really don’t like the attention and I just think there are better ways to spend your time. I don’t like the limelight,’ he said.

Neely’s family has called for Penny to be charged with murder. When asked what he would like to say to them, he responded somberly: ‘I’m deeply saddened by the loss of life.’

‘It’s tragic what happened to him. Hopefully, we can change the system that’s so desperately failed us.’

Neely’s funeral was attended by prominent left-wing politicians including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who has accused Penny of murder. 

Sharpton delivered a fiery eulogy at the funeral at the Mount Neboh Baptist Church in Harlem, condemning Neely’s death as unjust and undeserved.

‘We can’t live in a city where you can choke me to death with no provocation, no weapon, no threat and you go home and sleep in your bed while my family has to put me into a cemetery,’ he said. 

Sharpton said his behavior was a cry for help.

‘Jordan was not annoying anyone on the train. Jordan was screaming for help. We keep criminalizing people with mental illness. They don’t need abuse, they need help,’ he said.

‘We should not not celebrate Jordan’s life, but we should not forget how he died. We’re not here because of natural causes.’

Sharpton also took aim at Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and other conservatives who have characterized Penny as a ‘Good Samaritan’ and defended his actions.

‘A good Samaritan helps those in trouble, they don’t choke them out. What happened to Jordan was a crime and this family shouldn’t have to stand alone,’ he said.

Sharpton also condemned what he said was New York City’s failure to care for the homeless.

‘He’s been choked his whole life,’ he said, adding that ‘in your name, we’re going to change how they deal with the homeless.’

Neely had an extensive rap sheet for crimes on the subway, including vicious assaults of other passengers.

In 2021, he attacked an elderly woman as she left the Bowery station in the East Village. She suffered a broken nose, a fractured orbital bone, and ‘bruising, swelling and substantial pain to the back of her head’ in the November 12 attack, according to a criminal complaint.

He admitted felony assault on February 9 in exchange for a 15-month alternative-to-incarceration program, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.

He was supposed to stay in a treatment facility and stay sober.

Between January 2020 and August 2021, Neely was arrested for public lewdness after pulling down his pants and exposing himself to a woman, misdemeanor assault for hitting a woman in the face, and criminal contempt for violating a restraining order.

All three cases were dismissed as part of his February 9 plea deal, according to Fox News.

In June 2019, he assaulted 68-year-old Filemon Castillo Baltazar on the platform of the W. 4th St. Station in Greenwich Village, court records show.

‘Out of nowhere, he punched me in the face,’ the victim told the New York Daily News. He said he saw Neely before the attack rummaging in trash cans for food.

One month earlier, Neely punched a man in the face, breaking his nose on the platform of Broadway-Lafayette – the same subway station where he died.

For both 2019 cases, he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault and was sentenced to six months in jail.

While Neely had a history of disruptive behavior and violent charges, friends and relatives said they don’t believe he would have harmed anyone had Penny just left him alone. 

Neely’s family said he ‘experienced a mental health episode’ and that no rider asked what was wrong before Penny and two other riders restrained him.