Andre Zachery, the father of Jordan Neely, on Monday lashed out after a Manhattan jury returned a not guilty verdict against Daniel Penny, a white man who put Jordan, a Black homeless man, in a fatal chokehold in a New York City subway last year.
“I miss my son. My son didn’t have to go through this,” Zachery said as his son’s supporters gathered after the verdict.
Penny, a former Marine, put Neely in a chokehold for about six minutes after Neely allegedly acted erratically on a subway car. He was acquitted of criminal negligent homicide, just days after a judge dismissed the more serious manslaughter charge. The jury had deadlocked on that charge, unable to come to a unanimous verdict. The manslaughter charge would have carried a sentence of up to 15 years behind bars, while criminally negligent homicide ranges from probation to up to four years in prison.
Zachery, who a officer removed from the courtroom after he cursed in anger shortly after the verdict, urged protesters, who chanted his son’s name outside the courthouse, to take action for change:
“Come on, people. Let’s do something about this.”
