Disturbing Daniel Penny posters plastered across New York subway car as trial verdict looms

Disturbing posters have been plastered across on a New York City subway car as the verdict in Daniel Penny's trial looms. 

Early Thursday morning an 'autonomous group of New Yorkers reclaimed an F train car' - the same subway line that Jordan Neely was killed on by the Marine Corp veteran on May 1, 2023. 

The black-and-white signs displayed the words 'A MAN WAS LYNCHED HERE' along with Neely's name, as they replaced previous ads on the train. 

According to Talia Jane, who recorded the posters going up, the anonymous group's choice of words 'pays homage to the original "A Man Was Lynched Yesterday" flag' that was raised outside of the The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's (NAACP) Manhattan office from 1920-1938 as part of an anti-lynching campaign. 

The group, which consists of 'Black, brown, Asian, white and Jewish New Yorkers,' also slapped flag-shaped stickers onto subway maps along hundreds of platforms throughout the city, marking the Broadway/Lafayette stop where Neely died.

Penny, 26, put Neely, 30, in a chokehold for nearly six minutes after the homeless man started aggressively shouting at train passengers. 

He now faces manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide charges as prosecutors accuse him of using lethal force unjustifiably. 

He has pleaded not guilty to the charges and could face up to 19 years behind bars if convicted.

One participant who helped put the posters up told Jane: 'New York must ensure its public spaces are free from the racist state violence and racist interpersonal violence that shape so much of life for Black and brown people in this city. 

'Jordan Neely was lynched on the F train. Regardless of what the court of jury will say about the matter, we took action today to mark this train car as a place of mourning, a place of grief, and a place of rage against a city and a country that deems certain lives to be more valuable than others,' the Brooklyn resident added. 

Another supporter told Jane: 'Jordan Neely died at the hands of a state that insists Black and brown and poor and disabled folks — all but an elite few — are dispensable. Jordan deserved care. New Yorkers deserve care.' 

Video footage of the incident shows Neely struggling to get out of the hold before eventually going limp, despite passengers telling the former soldier to let go.

In the criminal trial, the defense attorneys have argued that Penny was only trying to protect others in the subway car.

In his closing statement, Penny's attorney Steven Raiser described the commuters onboard the subway that day as being 'frozen in fear' and claimed there was an obvious reason that there was no footage of Neely's outburst - because they were too afraid to move. 

He then quoted experts and witnesses who testified during the trial, and reminded the jurors that Neely was described as having 'severely psychotic cases.' 

Neely had a long rap sheet and had a history of mental illness. When the Michael Jackson impersonator stepped on the F train that day, he began making threats at passengers and said he wasn't afraid to go back to jail.

The jury tasked with determining whether Penny committed manslaughter that day has zeroed in on testimony about the homeless man's death. 

The jury of seven women and five men sent a note to Judge Maxwell Wiley around 3pm on Wednesday asking to rehear part of the city Medical Examiner's testimony about issuing a death certificate without getting toxicology results for the 30-year-old victim.

Dr. Cynthia Harris had testified that bystander video of Penny's encounter with Neely onboard the F train in Manhattan, as well as investigative findings gave her all the information she needed to declare that Neely died of compression to the neck, NBC 4 reported. 

'No toxicological result imaginable was going to change my opinion,' Harris said, even if it showed 'enough fentanyl to put down an elephant.'.

The jury also asked to review the six-minute clip a Mexican journalist took of the chokehold, as well as body camera footage from when New York Police Department officers arrived on the scene as EMS workers tried to revive Neely, and footage of Penny's interrogation at the police station in the aftermath.

Defense attorneys had argued that Neely did not die just from the chokehold, but from a combination of schizophrenia, use of synthetic marijuana, a genetic condition and his struggle with Penny onboard the subway. 

They noted that first responders opted to use Narcan to reverse the effects of opioids before they administered CPR, and in his closing arguments,  Raiser pointed out no expert witness during the trial could prove key elements beyond reasonable doubt. 

But Assistant District Attorney Dafna Yoran warned the jury on Tuesday that their verdict should not rely upon whether they themselves would be grateful for Penny's intervention, or weigh testimony from his loved ones that he is a 'good man.'

'What is so tragic about this case, is that even though the defendant started out doing the right thing… a man died,' she said.

'He was given all the signs he needed to stop. He ignored them. He must be held accountable for that.'

She continued: 'You're not here to decide whether you'd want to ride alone on the train with Jordan Neely.

'That is not what this case is about. The only thing you need to determine here is whether or not the evidence here proves the defendant killed Jordan Neely.'

Yafna also noted that Penny is a Marine Corps veteran, arguing that he should have had a clearer understanding of the risks of his actions given his military experience. 

Amid the ongoing trial, Neely's parents filed a lawsuit against Penny for negligent contact, assault, and battery that caused injuries and ultimately death, The Independent has reported.

Deliberations have continued on into Thursday, as protesters continue to gather outside the Manhattan courthouse to decry Penny and declare their support for a manslaughter charge.

But some of the protesters have become aggressive, defense attorney Thomas Kenniff said on Wednesday, describing how one man followed Penny to a car that was waiting for him after the trial one day and started banging on the doors.

The same man, he said, was 'repeatedly berating Mr. Penny with violent and homophobic slurs' when he arrived at court on Wednesday.