Daniel Penny says Jordan Neely threatened to kill subway riders before deadly chokehold on video released by his attorneys
NEW YORK -- Daniel Penny, the man charged in Jordan Neely's death, defended his actions on the subway in newly-released videos.
Penny, 24, was caught on video holding Neely, 30, in a chokehold on an F train near the Broadway-Lafayette station on May 1.
On Sunday, Penny's lawyers released four short clips of Penny defending himself.
"This was a scary situation," said Penny.
Penny, a Marine veteran, said he was acting in self-defense while Neely made threats and acted erratically on the train.
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"The three main threats that he repeated over and over was, 'I'm going to kill you,' 'I'm prepared to go to jail for life,' and 'I'm willing to die,'" said Penny. "I was scared for myself, but I looked around, I saw women and children. He was yelling in their faces ... I didn't want to be put in that situation, but I couldn't just sit still and let him carry out these threats."
Records show Neely, who was homeless at the time of his encounter with Penny and known around the city for his Michael Jackson impersonations, struggled with mental illness after his mother's death in 2007.
Neely's death sparked protests for weeks after Penny was initially questioned by police and let go. The Medical Examiner's Office ruled Neely's death a homicide and Penny was charged with second-degree manslaughter.
Penny is currently out on bond.
In his lawyers' videos, Penny said he was not trying to end Neely's life and race was not a factor.
"Some people say I was trying to choke him to death, which is also not true. I was trying to restrain him. You can see in the video, there's a clear rise and fall of his chest," said Penny. "I didn't see a Black man threatening passengers. I saw a man threatening passengers, a lot of whom were people of color."
He also said the chokehold was only about five minutes, instead of 15 minutes, which has been alleged by some.
Penny's lawyers declined to make him available for an interview.
When asked why Penny's defense team put his statements out there now, attorney Stephen Raiser said, "There's a certain point where you have to put a stop to the facts that are being twisted."
Since Sunday, CBS2 has contacted the attorneys representing Neely's family by phone and email. They have not yet responded.
Last month, attorneys for Neely's family said the second-degree manslaughter charge was not enough and called for Penny to be charged with murder.
"Daniel Penny is getting a chance to rewrite his story about what happened on the subway as time goes by. He's going to come up with more things to make himself look better because that's the only way he can escape the consequences of what he did," attorney Lennon Edwards said.
Penny has not yet been indicted and is due back in court next month.