ABC News reports that Daniel Penny of New York has been indicted by a grand jury for choking a man to death on a subway.
The indictment comes after Gov. Ron DeSantis joined a chorus of the vigilante’s defenders last month.
Penny choked Jordan Neely on a New York City subway on May 1. He initially faced a manslaughter charge after killing Neely in the wake of threats to passengers, though it’s uncertain at this writing what his charge will be from the grand jury. Many have defended Penny for initially subduing Neely, but plenty have criticized Penny for keeping him in a chokehold for several minutes after he no longer posed a threat.
“Vets look out for other vets,” DeSantis said in a May 16 defense of Daniel Penny. “What we can’t have in our society is inmates running the asylum.
“And what you saw on the subway was, you saw a guy that was very dangerous. He was putting people in harm’s way. He was boasting that he may do harm,” DeSantis added.
“And I think to be able to step in as a good Samaritan and protect people, I think that that’s something that was the right thing to do, and I don’t think he should be prosecuted. I think you have a prosecutor there that sides with the criminal element over law-abiding citizens. And when people have the temerity to fight back against the criminal element, he goes after them.”
The Governor was an early booster of Penny’s legal defense fund on GiveSendGo, which is now approaching $3 million. The right-wing alternative to GoFundMe is billed as the “#1 Christian fundraising site.”
“Hopefully with him raising all this money, he’s going to be able to beat this case,” DeSantis said. “I hope the charges are dropped. But if they’re not, I think he’s going to be able to win in the end.”
The Governor spotlighted Penny’s case on Twitter, urging followers to “show this Marine … America’s got his back.” While America may have his back, Penny will face charges.
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