Protesters clash with police at demonstrations over Jordan Neely's death, 11 arrested
NEW YORK -- Protesters clashed with police on Monday night at demonstrations over the death of Jordan Neely.
The NYPD said at least 11 people were arrested and officers found a Molotov cocktail left over from the crowd.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is expected to present Jordan Neely's case to a grand jury this week to determine if criminal charges will be brought against Daniel Penny, the Marine veteran seen on video holding Neely in a chokehold.
Protesters said they'll keep coming out until Penny is arrested.
Monday's demonstrations quickly devolved outside the subway station in SoHo where Neely, 30, was killed last week.
Police stopped traffic and made several arrests, to the ire of the crowd. Some people taken into custody were bleeding from their head.
"The fact that their reaction to protesting the lynching of Jordan Neely is more aggressive than the attention that they gave to Jordan Neely's actual murderers speaks volumes," said Kimberly Bernard.
"As we started to move the crowd, we found a Molotov cocktail that was in the crowd, on the ground. We'll respect people's right to protest, but we cannot have people bringing weapons," said NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey.
This is a Molotov Cocktail that was found at tonight’s protest. We are committed to ensuring everyone’s right to protest. Violence has no place in civic demonstration. These actions will never be tolerated & anyone bringing weapons or dangerous substances will be arrested. https://t.co/5eS5A525SQ pic.twitter.com/VMh14FQQSD
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) May 9, 2023
Protesters have been gathering and calling for Penny's arrest for days. Penny was questioned by police and released before the medical examiner ruled Neely's death a homicide.
Witnesses told police Neely was acting erratically and begging for food. He has dozens of prior arrests.
Penny's attorneys claim his client was protecting himself and others.
"Daniel never intended to harm Mr. Neely and could not have foreseen his untimely death," Penny's attorneys said in a statement.
At one point in the cellphone video of the chokehold, a bystander said to Penny, "My wife is ex-military. You're gonna kill him now."
A few seconds later, another rider who appeared to be restraining Neely's hands said, "He's not squeezing no more."
"You gonna catch a murder charge," the bystander said,
"If he's gonna be charged with manslaughter, the theory is going to be that he was aware of a risk that he could cause his death and he just disregarded that," said Mark Bederow, a criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor. "And certainly statements by others indicating that Neely appears to be in distress and what not could be harmful in that regard."
Neely's family blasted Penny's statement Monday as a character assassination and said it was "A clear example of why he believed he was entitled to take Jordan's life."