On Saturday, tensions continued to rise in the New York City transit system as protesters stood off with the police and the F-line in honor of the late Jordan Neely. As chants such as “Say his name, Jordan Neely” and “No justice, no peace,” echoed the 63rd Lexington Ave station, hundreds of New Yorkers flooded the subway stop. Underground, many protestors clashed with the NYPD; others stormed the tracks, causing trains to stop. Traction between protestors, police and transit escalated quickly as the NYPD made dozens of arrests.
This protest follows the death of Jordan Neely, a 30 year old homeless man who was well known by subway regulars for his Michael Jackson impersonations. On Monday, May 1, Neely allegedly was having a mental health episode on the F-line.
Witnesses reported he was yelling about being hungry and thirsty, throwing trash and making threats, but was not causing any direct harm to anyone. A 24 year old ex-Marine then apprehended Neely with a “rear naked chokehold,” and held him down with the help of two other men for several minutes. By the time Neely was transported to the hospital, he was pronounced dead. A video taped on a phone of the incident then circulated social media and went viral.
Saturday’s protest convened at Union Square, and demonstrators marched up to the 63rd Lexington Ave station. After the police were able to push protestors out of the station, they continued to express their anger, frustration and remorse outside, and the police continued to make arrests.
As protestors expressed their discontent with the justice system and the tragic preventable death of Jordan Neely, they also called for Daniel Penny-the ex-Marine identified in the video-to be held accountable for his actions along with the two men that helped him. Penny was only brought in for questioning after the incident, and then was let go.
This demonstration followed several other protests that occurred after Neely’s death. On Wednesday, protestors gathered at the Broadway-Lafayette station where Neely lost his life. On Thursday protestors met again at the Barclays Center. On Friday, people held signs in Washington Square Park.
“Our government, our society, should actually provide those wraparound services instead of leaving someone languishing out there and that’s a failure on all of us, and our elected leaders,” said Adolfo Abreu, a member of community activist organization, Vocal NY, in a statement reported by the Associated Press.
Many New Yorkers are also disappointed with Mayor Eric Adams’ original response to the incident. When he became mayor, Adams ordered an increased presence of police in subway stations to combat crime in the transit systems. Many criticized the NYC mayor’s lack of action following Neely’s death as he warned against calling it a murder even after the death was revealed to be homicide by the NYC Medical Examiner’s Office.
“I don’t think that’s very responsible at the time,” Adams said to CNN on Wednesday. “We’re still investigating the situation. Let’s let the DA conduct his investigation with law enforcement officials. To really interfere with that is not the right thing to do.”
Neely’s arrest record was also a popular headline following the homicide, and many viewers noticed the disparities in treatment in the media between Neely and Daniel Penny.
The Afrofuturist Abolitionists of the Americas organization tweeted: “A ‘sane’ [white] individual murders a mentally ill Black person in crisis in front of numerous onlookers and is hailed as a hero by many. Jordan Neely’s name, mental health history and arrest record are shared freely, while the killer’s identity is protected.”
The investigation is currently ongoing and no arrests have been made so far.
“Passengers are not supposed to die on the floor of our subways,” said attorneys for Neely’s family in a statement obtained by NBC News.
“We have people being killed for ringing the wrong doorbell, pulling in the wrong driveway and screaming out for desperation on the subway,” an attorney continued. “We cannot let that stand.”
