Fox News has reported that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is still deciding whether to bring charges against Marine Corps veteran Daniel Penny following the recent death of aggressive homeless man Jordan Neely.
However, the case took an interesting turn when Penny retained a fellow veteran longtime critic of Bragg to represent him.
According to the New York Daily News, lawyer Thomas Kenniff is a conservative Republican who challenged Bragg in the 2021 district attorney's race.
During the race he regularly criticized New York's bail reform law under which those who have been charged with most misdemeanors and some felonies no longer need to post cash bail.
Neely died in a subway car last Monday after being restrained by Penny. The Daily News noted how witnesses have said that before his death, Neely behaved belligerently and said, "I don’t mind if I go to jail and (get) life in prison."
Bragg is facing pressure to indict Penny from left-wing figures, including from New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who called him a "murderer."
Jordan Neely was murdered.
But bc 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.
It’s disgusting. https://t.co/YJeQp9bbgE
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) May 3, 2023
Fellow Democratic lawmaker Ayanna Pressley suggested that Neely was the victim of a racial hate crime, insisting he was "lynched" while "having a mental health crisis."
He was 30 years old.
Black men deserve to grow old—not be lynched on a Subway because they were having a mental health crisis.
Jordan deserved better. Accountability now. pic.twitter.com/aX5qcryrbx
— Ayanna Pressley (@AyannaPressley) May 4, 2023
However, the New York Post reported that Neely was arrested on multiple occasions, including in November of 2021 when he was accused of punching a 67-year-old woman in the face.
The Post cited charging documents which said the victim sustained a broken nose and fractured orbital bone as well as "bruising, swelling and substantial pain to the back of her head."
Meanwhile, the Daily News pointed to a 2015 incident in which Neely was arrested for attempting to drag away a 7-year-old girl.
That incident resulted in Neely pleading guilty to endangering the welfare of a child and receiving a sentence of four months behind bars.
The paper added that Neely had an open arrest warrant at the time of his death for skipping a court date in February.
