NEW YORK (AP) — The choking death of a man with apparent mental disorders on the New York subway sparked intense reactions Thursday, with some calling it a homicide and others defending the passenger’s actions as a justified response to the disorder. .
New York has become one of the safest cities in the country, but the emotional reactions to what happened were reminiscent of decades before, when residents felt overwhelmed by crime and some took the law into their own hands.
Manhattan prosecutors promised a “rigorous” investigation into the possibility of filing charges in the death of the black man, who died after he was restrained by other passengers and a white man, believed to be a Marine Corps veteran, hit him. a choke key.
Jordan Neely, 30, died Monday after the confrontation hours earlier aboard a train under Manhattan. He was apparently having a mental breakdown and was yelling at other passengers when a passenger grabbed him by the neck and pinned him to the ground. Two other passengers helped reduce him.
The coroner classified Neely’s death as homicide by strangulation, but noted that any criminal liability would be decided in the legal system.
No one has been arrested, but the Manhattan district attorney’s office said Wednesday night it would review the autopsy reports and “we will review all available photos and video, identify and interview as many witnesses as possible, and obtain other medical records.”
Police questioned the 24-year-old — who is shown in the video holding Neely by the neck for at least 3 minutes, maybe longer — but released him without charge.
It was not clear why the passengers intervened to subdue Neely. A freelance journalist who recorded the episode said that while Neely was acting aggressive and threw his jacket at him, he had not attacked anyone.
Speaking on CNN Tuesday night, Mayor Eric Adams, who was a police captain, said there were still too many unknowns.
“We don’t know exactly what happened here,” Adams said, adding that “we can’t just say offhand what a passenger should or shouldn’t do in a situation like that, and we must allow the investigation to run its course.”
A group of people protested Wednesday afternoon outside the subway station where Neely died, demanding an arrest. Neely was recognized by some New Yorkers as a Michael Jackson impersonator who danced in subway stations.
In a statement, the Rev. Al Sharpton demanded that Neely’s death be investigated as a possible homicide. Sharpton recalled the 1984 episode in which a white passenger named Bernhard Goetz shot four young black men on a subway train.
“We cannot go back to the days when people were allowed to take the law into their own hands. It wasn’t acceptable then and it’s not acceptable now,” Sharpton said.
2023-05-04 16:18:45
#Death #subway #shakes #Yorkers
