Death of “Aggressive” Man on NYC Subway Ruled a Homicide; Far Left Wing Officials Weigh In

Edited by: Fern Sidman

A man who had been shouting at people aboard a New York City subway train and making threats to kill them died after fellow riders tackled him and one put him in a chokehold that lasted until his body went limp, according to police officials and video of the encounter, the Associated Press reported.

The medical examiner’s office on Wednesday said 30-year-old Jordan Neely died from “compression of neck (chokehold)” and determined the manner of death to be homicide, as was reported by CBS News.

Neely is recognizable to some New Yorkers as a Michael Jackson impersonator who regularly danced in the Times Square transit hub, the AP reported. On Tuesday afternoon, he was yelling and pacing back and forth on an F train in Manhattan, witnesses and police said, when he was restrained by at least three people, including a U.S. Marine veteran who pulled one arm tightly around his neck.

CBS News reported that police sources say around 2:30 Tuesday afternoon, Neely was allegedly throwing trash, yelling at passengers and acting erratically on the F train at the East Houston and Lafayette street station. Things quickly escalated when the 24-year-old Marine tried to subdue him by using what appears to be a chokehold.

Video of the altercation posted online by a freelance journalist showed the Marine veteran lying beneath Neely, holding him in a headlock position for several minutes as Neely tried and failed to break free, as was reported by the AP.  A second passenger pinned Neely’s arms while a third person held down his shoulder.

Neely, who is Black, lost consciousness during the struggle. The AP also reported that  EMTs and police arrived after the train stopped at a station. He was pronounced dead at a Manhattan hospital shortly after.

The 24-year-old Marine veteran, who appeared to be white, was taken into custody and released without charges. The AP reported that his name has not been released publicly.

Contacted by the New York Daily News on Wednesday, the Marine refused to answer questions. ‘I’m not answering any questions. I appreciate it, but I’m not answering any questions,’ he said.

The medical examiner’s office classified Neely’s death as a homicide and the manner as a chokehold, but noted that any determination about criminal culpability would be left to the legal system, the AP said.

The Manhattan district attorney’s office said it is investigating.

“As part of our rigorous ongoing investigation, we will review the Medical Examiner’s report, assess all available video and photo footage, identify and interview as many witnesses as possible, and obtain additional medical records,” read a statement from a spokesperson for the DA, according to the AP report.

A rally for Neely was held Wednesday afternoon on the same subway platform where he took some of his last breaths, CBS News reported.  Dozens gathered, holding signs in honor of Neely. “Justice for Jordan Neely,” the crowd chanted. “If we don’t get it, shut it down.”

According to a flyer circulating on Facebook, the protest was scheduled to start at 3pm on Wednesday.

“A life was senselessly taken away. Someone who was homeless, struggling with mental health. Right now a lot of folks are infuriated because our government is not prioritizing housing,” one person said, according to the CBS News report.

Another person told CBS News that ,”We’re just outraged as a community that there has been nor arrest or formal of charges against the man who has yet to be identified who killed Jordan Neely.”

“This is absolutely devastating. Should have never happened. We have been pleading with MTA and state to put in social workers, deploy them into the subway system,” Jack Nierenberg of Passengers United told CBS News.

The AP reported that Kyle Ishmael, a 38-year-old Harlem resident, said the video of the incident left him feeling “disgusted.” He added that, “I couldn’t believe this was happening on my subway in my city that I grew up in.”

The Gothamist web site reported that the chants of ‘Black Lives Matter,’ Justice for Jordan Neely,’ ‘F*** Eric Adams’ and ‘the homeless matter’ could be heard amongst the protesters.

Also on Wednesday, New York Governor Kathy Hochul addressed the video saying it was ‘deeply disturbing’ but declined to say if the state would be investigating it as a criminal matter.

New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called Neely’s death a “disgusting” situation. “Jordan was houseless and crying for food in a time when the city is raising rents and stripping services to militarize itself while many in power demonize the poor, the murderer gets protected w/ passive headlines + no charges, “ she tweeted, as was reported by The Guardian of the UK.

NYC Comptroller Brad Lander, warned that New York “must not become a city where a mentally ill human being can be choked to death by a vigilante without consequence.”

Other far-left, woke, progressive elected officials and commentators also weighed in on the Neely death.

NYC council member Tiffany Cabán in a statement on Twitter, “People experiencing homelessness, mental illness, hunger and frustration need and deserve compassion and trauma-informed care.  Officials and media outlets have instead told us that they are threats to be contained by force.”

“Jordan Neely’s murder is the inevitable result,” Cabán added, according to the report in The Guardian of the UK.

The Rev. Al Sharpton, now a television commentator also offered his views. In a statement, he demanded that Neely’s death be investigated as a potential case of manslaughter, the Guardian reported.  Sharpton referenced the Bernhard Goetz case in 1984, in which a white gunman was convicted of a weapons offense after he shot four Black men on a subway train.

“We cannot end up back to a place where vigilantism is tolerable. It wasn’t acceptable then and it cannot be acceptable now,” Sharpton said, as was reported by The Guardian.

Juan Alberto Vazquez, the reporter who captured the incident, told the New York Post that Neely was screaming “in an aggressive manner” and complained of hunger and thirst but had not physically attacked anyone, as was reported by The Guardian of the UK.

Vazquez said the 24-year-old man approached Neely after he threw his jacket to the ground. The Guardian also reported that when the video starts Neely was already on the subway car’s floor, with the man’s left arm around Neely’s neck. A second man holds his arms and a third held down his shoulder. After briefly trying to free himself he eventually goes limp.

The AP reported that Neely’s death comes amid a period of heightened public attention to both homelessness and mental illness on New York City’s streets and subways. Following several high-profile incidents, including a shooting on a subway train that left 10 people wounded last year, Mayor Eric Adams promised to deploy additional police officers and mental health workers throughout the transit system.

Dave Giffen, the executive director at Coalition for the Homeless, blamed city and state officials for an inadequate response to the mental health crisis — and questioned why the Marine veteran was not facing criminal charges, the AP reported.

Andre Zachery, Neely’s father, told the New York Daily News that he had not seen his son in four years.

Zachery told the paper that Neely’s mother also died violently. Christie Neely was strangled in New Jersey in 2007, according to news accounts at the time. Her body was found days later in a suitcase along a roadway. Neely, who was 14 when she died, testified against his mother’s boyfriend at his murder trial.