Neely Family Attorney to Newsmax: Race Not a Factor in Death

The attorney representing the family of Jordan Neely, the Black man who died in a chokehold after creating a disturbance on a Manhattan subway last May, said on Newsmax Thursday that he agrees with ex-U.S. Marine Daniel Penny, the man charged in the death, that public safety, not race, led to his actions.   

However, Donte Mills told Newsmax's "National Report" that Penny held Neely for several minutes, which "showed he understood something would happen."

"If you choke somebody that long, there's an understanding that they will die," Mills said. "The grand jury decided that he should have recognized and should have let that chokehold go."

A New York judge last week refused to dismiss charges of manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide against Penny, whose lawyers are arguing he risked his life and safety to protect subway passengers against Neely, who was behaving erratically and saying he was "ready to die."

Mills pointed out that the charges do not involve murder, but instead were named as manslaughter because "whether [Penny] intended to harm him or not, he did, and you have to be held accountable for that."

But Mills, who is Black, stressed that he does not think Neely's race was a deciding factor. 

"I'll say that if I was in that situation, and if it was a Black man who choked me to death when I was having a mental breakdown and screaming things out, even if I made that person afraid that they will be held accountable," said Mills.

"I would hope the same for you if there was a white man who choked you out if you were making comments, and they felt afraid, and choked you for that long and you died, I would hope that they will be held accountable, he added. 

Others on the train took steps to restrain Neely, Mills said, but they were restraining his hands and he believes "they did the right thing."

Meanwhile, Neely was creating a disturbance, but "he did not put his hands on anyone," said Mills. "He may have made people feel uncomfortable. He may have made people feel like they were unsafe. But what we're saying here is at some point when Daniel Penny had Jordan Neely and the chokehold he should have let him go."

Mills added that he has also had "scary situations" on the subway, but he doesn't think he could be an "executioner" if he would have to step in. 

Penny was a Marine, and "we applaud that," said Mills, but at the same time, that meant he should have understood the dangers behind holding someone in a chokehold. 

Mills added that there is no question that safety on New York's public transportation system must be addressed, and that should include having people who are trained to handle dangerous situations and who can "recognize when someone is having a mental issue and can address them without choking them to death."

Safety should also not be left to a "hero's hands" to settle, said Mills. 

"That hero may not know when to stop, and I think that's what happened here," he said. "Jordan Neely did not touch anyone before he was touched, so there has to be some kind of spot in between where you can address this people can feel safe, but nobody has to die."

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