Daniel Penny, acquitted in New York subway chokehold case, to hitch Vance in Military-Navy Recreation By Reuters

By Nathan Layne

(Reuters) – Daniel Penny, a former U.S. Marine who held a New York subway passenger in a chokehold and was acquitted this week of murder in his loss of life, will attend the soccer sport on Saturday between the Military and Navy as visitor of Vice President-elect JD Vance.

Vance stated in an X-rated article Friday that Penny accepted his invitation to hitch him for the legendary match, which attracts nationwide consideration annually. President-elect Donald Trump may even be on the sport in Landover, Maryland.

A Manhattan jury on Monday discovered Penny, 26, not responsible of criminally negligent murder within the loss of life of Jordan Neely, who prosecutors stated was agitated and appearing threateningly as he boarded a downtown practice on Could 1, 2023.

The case attracted public consideration, with some viewing Neely, who was black, as a sufferer of white vigilantism. Others, together with some Republican politicians, described Penny as a hero for shielding others on the practice.

“Daniel is an efficient man, and the New York mob prosecutor tried to destroy his life as a result of he had a spine,” Vance wrote on X.

“I’m grateful that he accepted my invitation and I hope he can have enjoyable and admire how a lot his fellow residents admire his braveness,” Vance added.

Penny’s lawyer, Steven Raiser, confirmed that his shopper will attend the match as a visitor of Vance.

“He would not view it as a political assertion. He simply views it as an honor,” Raiser stated. “If it was a sitting president who was a Democrat and invited him to the Military-Navy sport to indicate his assist for the Military and his nation, he would have fortunately accepted that as effectively.”

Penny stated he by no means supposed to kill Neely, a 30-year-old homeless man with a historical past of psychological sickness. Penny didn’t testify in the course of the trial, which started in October. He left the courtroom Monday with out commenting to the media.

Earlier than Monday’s acquittal, a decide had already dismissed a extra critical cost, second-degree manslaughter, after jurors got here ahead twice throughout their third day of deliberations to say they had been divided on this level.