Vice President-elect JD Vance has invited Marine veteran Daniel Penny to be his guest at this year’s Army-Navy football game on Saturday, Vance confirmed on social media. Penny was found not guilty by a New York jury this week of criminally negligent homicide in an incident in which he choked a homeless man to death on a New York City subway, believing the man was a threat to other passengers.
Vance described Penny as “a good guy” in a Friday post on X. The vice president-elect also accused Manhattan’s district attorney of wrongfully prosecuting Penny “for having a backbone.”
“I’m grateful he accepted my invitation and hope he’s able to have fun and appreciate how much his fellow citizens admire his courage,” said Vance, who also served in the Marine Corps.
Perry and Vance are expected to join President-elect Donald Trump in his suite at Saturday’s Army-Navy game.
A representative from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office could not be reached for comment on Friday.
Penny served in the Marine Corps from 2017 to 2021 as an 0311 Infantry Rifleman, according to his service record, which was provided to Task & Purpose. His last duty assignment was with 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and he was promoted to sergeant while in the Individual Ready Reserve.
His military awards include two Sea Service Deployment Ribbons, the Marine Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Humanitarian Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, and the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal.
A chaotic subway encounter
On May 1, 2023, Neely — who was homeless and had a history of mental health issues and run-ins with police — boarded a New York subway car and began screaming that he needed food and water, that he didn’t care about going to jail, and that he was “ready to die,” freelance journalist Juan Alberto Vazquez told the Washington Post.
Penny grabbed Neely from behind in a chokehold, holding him in place for several minutes while two other men helped to restrain Neely. A roughly four-minute video taken by another passenger that was posted on social media – and has since been taken down – shows that Neely initially tried to wrestle free but then stopped moving after about two minutes. Penny let him go about a minute later.
Police found Neely unresponsive and tried to revive him. He was transported to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Neely’s death, the charges against Penny, and his trial became political flashpoints, including among many veterans. Some argued that Penny had acted in self-defense and in defense of other passengers, while others believed the severity of Penny’s chokehold had been beyond his military training.
New York City Medical Examiner Cynthia Harris testified that Neely died from “compression of neck chokehold,” but Penny’s attorneys argued that the Marine veteran had used a variation of a non-lethal chokehold based on his training in the Corps, NBC reported.
Marine veteran Joseph Caballer, who trained Penny on such holds, testified that Penny may have improperly applied a chokehold on Neely. Caballer told jurors that once Nelly was on the ground, Penny may have applied an “air choke,” which is not taught by the Marine Corps.
Penny’s attorneys declined to comment to Task & Purpose on Friday.
After the jury initially deadlocked on the case, the judge dismissed a charge of second-degree manslaughter against Penny at the request of the prosecution. On Monday, jurors found Penny not guilty of the remaining charge of negligent homicide.
Neely’s family filed a civil lawsuit against Penny last week, said the family’s attorney Donte Mills.
In the lawsuit, Mills argues that Penny kept his chokehold on Neely for too long, Mills told Task & Purpose on Friday. The attorney is also arguing that Penny should have known from his Marine Corps training that keeping Neely in a chokehold for that long would have been fatal.
“For the last almost a minute that he held his neck, Jordan Neely was lifeless,” said Mills, who was retained by Neely’s family last year. “I know that Daniel Penny was trained to take a life; he was also trained to save lives; and the way he acted, he went beyond the training. He choked him for too long.”
He told Task & Purpose that he does not think that Vance’s invitation for Penny to attend the Army-Navy game is “consistent with the training and the morals and ideals that we want from our military and the people who are courageous enough to serve our country.”
UPDATE: 12/13/2024; this story was updated after publication with comments from Donte Mills, an attorney who represents Jordan Neely’s family in a civil suit against Daniel Penny.
The latest on Task & Purpose
- A push to cut veterans disability benefits is gaining traction, experts warn
- A judge ordered the VA to build thousands of new veterans housing units in Los Angeles. An appeals court halted it
- Sailors on USS Carney recall tense night of combat in fierce Red Sea fight
- To build a runway for the new stealth bomber, the Air Force is moving 17 B-1s to a new base
- VFW bashes The Economist for taking ‘turkey-sized dump’ on disabled vets