Subway chokehold case: Daniel Penny tells Fox Nation jury was 'courageous' to acquit him

Daniel Penny felt "nervous" and "scared," while fearing for the lives of fellow city subway riders, before putting Jordan Neely into a fatal chokehold last year, the West Islip native said during his first interview following his acquittal in a criminal trial that divided New Yorkers over questions of race and public safety.

Penny, who joined the Marine Corps after graduating from West Islip High School and served four years, told Fox News host Jeanine Pirro that despite the nationwide attention his case received, he did not regret his actions on the F train on May 1, 2023. He would do it again if needed, he said.

"The guilt I would have felt if someone did get hurt, if he did do what he was threatening to do, I would never be able to live with myself," Penny, 26, said in a nearly 40-minute interview that launched Wednesday morning on the Fox Nation streaming service. "And I will take a million court appearances and people calling me names and people hating me just to keep one of those people from getting hurt or killed."

On Monday, a Manhattan jury acquitted Penny of criminally negligent homicide in the death of Neely, an unarmed homeless man who was having an outburst on the train, following an eight-week trial. The judge in the case on Friday dismissed the top count of second-degree manslaughter after the panel of seven women and five men said it was deadlocked on the charge.

"It takes a lot of courage, especially in this climate in New York City, to stick up for me," Penny said of the jury's decision. "It was very courageous of them."

He was facing up to 4 years in prison if he had been found guilty of criminally negligent homicide.

Following the trial, Neely's father, Andre Zachery, said the jury had reached the wrong decision.

"I miss my son," Zachery said outside the courthouse Monday. "This hurts. This really, really hurts. I've had enough of this. The system is rigged."

Penny, who is white, put Neely in a chokehold for about six minutes after Neely had an outburst on the train that witnesses said frightened riders.

Neely, a Black former street performer with a history of mental illness, did not touch any of the other riders, witnesses said.

In the interview, Penny said Neely "barreled" onto the train "aggressively," demanding fast food and threatening to "kill people" and to "go to jail for life" if he didn't get what he wanted.

"This is all within 15 seconds of him getting on the train," Penny told Pirro. "There’s outbursts on the train all the time unfortunately in New York City. There’s always people coming on and talking crazy and this was unlike anything that I’ve ever experienced and it was very serious. I completely believed what he was saying."

Penny added that on the train, there was a "mother holding her child, and the school kids were protecting themselves or holding each other. And people were stuck to their chairs, and they felt pinned. And I felt pinned. I felt nervous. I felt scared." 

Responding to the Fox Nation interview, Rev. Ronald McHenry of the Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network who has served as a Neely family spokesman, said in a statement that Penny "had no legal or moral authority to act as judge, jury, and executioner. His decision to restrain Jordan Neely led to the unnecessary loss of a life that should have been met with compassion and intervention, not violence."

The NYPD released Penny after his initial interrogation on the day of the incident. The New York chapter of Black Lives Matter and the National Action Network protested. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg took the case to a grand jury and Penny was indicted. Others, including Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, subsequently rallied in support of Penny. 

During the trial, jurors saw a video of Penny gripping Neely from behind, struggling to subdue him while more than a dozen fellow riders watched and recorded the incident.

Penny held Neely around the neck and chest, at times with the help of bystanders, trying to subdue him until he eventually stopped moving. Neely had a pulse but was not breathing when police arrived, officers testified.

Following the nationally publicized trial, Penny said he feels he has to look over his shoulder.

"I have to worry about my family," he said. "And I have to worry about my future, which is even harder to comprehend. I still feel completely normal. I don't feel exceptional in any way. And I don't want to feel that. I don't want any praise. I don't want any attention. I don't want any limelight ... It just makes me very uncomfortable. I'd like to go back to normal."

With Janon Fisher

By Robert Brodsky

robert.brodsky@newsday.com@BrodskyRobert

Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.