(Timothy Clary / File | Amy Lemus via Getty / File)
Disclaimer: This article may contain the personal views and opinions of the author.
In the upside-down world in which we find ourselves, a man has been arrested for saving a group of subway riders from a deranged and possibly homicidal maniac.
According to some of the passengers on the NYC subway on May 1, Jordan Neely was making threats and terrorizing passengers.
A former marine, Daniel Penny, restrained the man using a technique frequently used in martial arts. Penny wrapped his arm around Neely’s neck to keep him from harming anyone on the train.
Neely was homeless, reportedly suffered from mental illness, and had 40+ arrests on his record, most recently for breaking the orbital bone of a 67-year-old woman.
Neely died in the skirmish and Penny was subsequently arrested and charged by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office with second-degree manslaughter.
The law offices of Raiser & Kenniff, P.C. created a GiveSendGo fund for Penny’s legal defense.
The donation page reads as follows:
Daniel Penny is a twenty-four-year-old college student and decorated Marine veteran, facing a criminal investigation stemming from his protecting individuals on a NYC subway train from an assailant who later died. Funds are being raised to pay Mr. Penny’s legal fees incurred from any criminal charges filed and any future civil lawsuits that may arise, as well as expenses related to his defense. All contributions are greatly appreciated. Any proceeds collected which exceed those necessary to cover Mr. Penny’s legal defense will be donated to a mental health advocacy program in New York City.
The story caught the attention of musician Kid Rock who donated $5,000 to the fundraiser.
His donation message reads, “Mr. Penny is a hero. Alvin Bragg is a POS. Kid Rock.”
Another donor, under the name Florida Man, wrote, “God bless Daniel Penny and people like him. The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing”
“We have your back brother. Stay strong,” wrote another contributor to the cause.
GiveSendGo co-founder, Jacob Wells, said that donations were pouring in at $1,000 per minute at one point.
Since its inception as the conservative answer to leftist GoFundMe, Penny’s defense fund campaign is the second largest behind the Canadian trucker Freedom Convoy fundraising campaign in 2022.
Upon his arrest, Penny’s lawyers issued a statement about the unfortunate incident:
“When Mr. Neely began aggressively threatening Daniel Penny and the other passengers, Daniel, with the help of others, acted to protect themselves, until help arrived. Daniel never intended to harm Mr. Neely and could not have foreseen his untimely death.”
GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy contributed $10,000 to Penny’s legal fund, adding that Neely should have been in jail or a mental institution, not out on the streets terrorizing people.
“You have an abandonment of the rule of law,” Ramaswamy told Fox News Digital. “Then someone who tries to assist and protect people, based on the current facts we have … is now being prosecuted. That represents a perversion of how the system is supposed to work.”
Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida offered his support to the Marine in a tweet on Saturday. “We stand with Good Samaritans like Daniel Penny. Let’s show this Marine… America’s got his back,” he wrote.
Political commentator Tim Pool added the largest single donation on Monday of $20,000.
“Penny is the subway Good Samaritan, and we are lucky to have brave souls like him who are willing to do the right thing,” Pool tweeted.
Megyn Kelly, a long-time NYC resident, said many of her friends expressed that they would be grateful to have someone like Penny on the subway with an unruly passenger present.
Let’s hope a NYC jury feels the same.
