Homeless man killed in New York subway: US justice investigates

New York justice opened an investigation this Thursday, May 4, into the death of a known homeless person in the city, after an altercation on May 1 in the subway with passengers, one of whom allegedly strangled him, a fact various filmed and which shocks the New York left. Jordan Neely, 30, who achieved minor fame by impersonating music legend Michael Jackson (1958-2009) on the street, was the victim of a ‘homicide’ by ‘compression’ in the neck, said New York City Forensics.

Alerted by passengers and by a video on social networks of an incident in the subway, the police had noted Monday afternoon that a thirty-year-old African-American had lost “consciousness”. Taken to hospital, he died there shortly after, according to an email from law enforcement. The five-minute video shows the victim on the ground in a subway car, with another man – a 24-year-old Marine Corps soldier according to media reports – lying behind him to shackle him and squeeze his upper body. Other passengers standing above the two men look taken aback.

Witnesses interviewed

A witness said that Jordan Neely burst into the car, shouting at passengers and asking them for something to eat or drink. Police briefly questioned the chokehold suspect and it is up to the New York State Attorney’s Office for the Borough of Manhattan to decide whether to prosecute. “As part of our ongoing rigorous investigation, we will review the forensic pathology report, all available photos and videos, identify and interview as many witnesses as possible,” a prosecutor’s office spokesperson said in an email Thursday. .

Jordan Neely imitated Michael Jackson in the streets of downtown Manhattan, where he lived, and had been arrested dozens of times, in particular for uproar on the public highway, according to the press. In a megalopolis of 8.5 million inhabitants with abysmal socio-economic inequalities and which does not know what to do with tens of thousands of homeless people often suffering from psychiatric disorders, the left has stepped up to the plate. Democratic Congresswoman for New York in the House of Representatives in Washington, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, wrote on Twitter that Jordan Neely had been the victim of a “murder”. New York City Council President Adrienne Adams denounced in a statement “the ‘double standard’ that black and people of color face”.

More to the right in the Democratic Party, tough New York City Mayor Eric Adams, also African-American and a former police captain, told CNN that “any loss of life is tragic” but that “many elements of this what happened remain unknown”. Dave Giffen, from the Coalition for the Homeless, denounced “the indifference of the municipality for the lives of people who are homeless and have psychiatric disorders”. Rallies are planned in New York on Friday and Saturday to push Manhattan prosecutors to prosecute the alleged perpetrator.