Former U.S. Marine Daniel Penny accepted Vice President-elect J.D. Vance’s invitation Friday to be his personal guest at the upcoming Army-Navy game over the weekend.
A jury found Penny not guilty of criminally negligent homicide on Monday relating to the death of Jordan Neely, a 30-year-old homeless man, who the now-former defendant held in a chokehold to protect surrounding passengers on a New York City subway in May 2023. Vance praised Penny for his “courage” and criticized Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who prosecuted the former Marine, for attempting to “ruin [Penny’s] life for having a backbone” in a Friday post on X.
“Daniel’s a good guy, and New York’s mob district attorney tried to ruin his life for having a backbone,” Vance said. “I’m grateful he accepted my invitation and hope he’s able to have fun and appreciate how much his fellow citizens admire his courage.”
Daniel’s a good guy, and New York’s mob district attorney tried to ruin his life for having a backbone.
I’m grateful he accepted my invitation and hope he’s able to have fun and appreciate how much his fellow citizens admire his courage. https://t.co/b4bY0G0EM3
— JD Vance (@JDVance) December 13, 2024
Multiple witnesses said Neely approached commuters in an erratic and threatening manner by screaming, aggressively throwing his jacket on the ground and exclaiming that he did not care about going to jail. The day following his acquittal, Penny told Fox News’ Judge Jeanine Pirro that he would have felt immense guilt if Neely had harmed someone on the subway.
“This type of thing is very uncomfortable. All this attention and limelight is very uncomfortable. I would prefer without it. I didn’t want any type of attention or praise … and I still don’t. 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 said.
Bragg initially charged Penny in May 2023 with second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. The manslaughter charge carried a sentence of up to 15 years in prison, while the negligent homicide charge held a maximum of four years imprisonment.
Judge Maxwell Wiley, who oversaw the trial, dropped the manslaughter charge after the jury reached a “deadlock” during their Dec. 6 deliberations.
In a separate case, Bragg charged President-elect Donald Trump with 34 felony counts for allegedly attempting to falsify business records to cover up a $130,000 hush money payment to former porn actress Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election. Months after the jury convicted Trump on all counts, his legal team has requested that Judge Juan Merchan dismiss the case since he will assume office in January.
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