Jordan Neely: Protests begin in New York after alleged murder of homeless man by Marine veteran in subway train
MANHATTAN, NEW YORK: The caught-on-video chokehold death of a 30-year-old homeless man, Jordan Neely, on Monday, May 1, led to protests on Wednesday, May 3, inside of New York City's subway. Activists shouted ‘Black lives matter' and bashed the mayor of New York City saying, ‘F*** Eric Adams’ at Manhattan's Broadway-Lafayette station.
Neely, 30, was a homeless Michael Jackson impersonator with autism and schizophrenia who has been arrested 42 times in the past, including for punching a 67-year-old woman in the face.
According to DailyNews, Neely was on an F train which was heading towards the Broadway-Lafayette stop when he started behaving erratically around 2.30 pm on May 1. He started yelling and throwing garbage at passengers, which led to an argument with the 24-year-old ex-Marine, whose identity is still unknown. The argument turned into a brawl as the train entered the station. During the fight, the ex-Marine put the victim in a chokehold and tried to restrain him.
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Video of the altercation was posted online by a freelance journalist named Juan Alberto Vazquez which also showed another passenger pinning Neely’s arms while one more person held his shoulder. Emergency responders and police arrived after the train stopped at a station. Neely was rushed to Lenox Hill Hospital and was pronounced dead shortly after. His death has now been ruled a homicide caused by compression of the neck, reports DailyMail.
'It’s the reduction and dehumanizing of Black lives'
Shifa Rahman, a 22-year-old man who showed up at the vigil-turned-protest on May 3 inside the Broadway-Lafayette subway station, said, as stated by The City NY, "We cannot just continue to stand by with complicity. It’s the reduction and dehumanizing of Black lives.” Meanwhile, Adolfo Abreu, the housing campaigns director of the social services and human rights nonprofit group Vocal-NY, called Neely’s death “disheartening, like our collective failure. That this happened is shocking and gruesome."
A woman at the protest, who wanted to stay anonymous, said, "What outrages me is that my daughter woke up today and she cannot believe that in this day and age, we have this amount of racism in what is supposedly the most progressive city."
'Where were the white shirts'
Justin Pines, 26, from Brooklyn, questioned the senior law enforcement members who were at the vigil, "Where were the white shirts, where were the white shirts yesterday when a man was getting choked to death?" King, one of the witnesses, told Daily News that it was “very disturbing to watch. He wasn’t conscious, he wasn’t responsive, and the man still had him in the headlock."
'Very good Michael Jackson impersonator'
Mike Cole, who created a GoFundMe page for Neely’s family, described the victim as “a very good Michael Jackson impersonator." In the page, he wrote, "Over the years multiple videos have been seen across the internet of him emulating the King of Pop garnishing thousands of views. He was a natural raw talent who touched a lot of people's lives. Very unfortunate he had to lose his life."
This was Jordan Neely, a hungry New Yorker choked to death by a grinning Marine who is being celebrated as a hero by NYPD and press. His offense? “Aggressive speech”, throwing his jacket on the ground and asking for food and water. pic.twitter.com/F3rRj30rQL
— Rafael Shimunov (@rafaelshimunov) May 3, 2023