By Robert McGreevy
Andre Zachery, the father of Jordan Neely (whose death led to former Marine Daniel Penny’s manslaughter and homicide trials) threatened Penny’s defense lawyer after the judge delivered a not guilty verdict, Fox News reported Monday.
When one of Penny’s defense lawyers began to clap after the acquittal, Zachery said “Are you trying to get f**king killed,” according to reporting from Fox News’s CB Cotton. Officials removed Zachery from the courtroom “after an audible outburst with expletives,” according to CNN’s Omar Jimenez, citing Lauren del Valle of the outlet’s New York Bureau.
There was applause in the courtroom as Daniel Penny’s not guilty verdict was read aloud, reports @Lauren_delvalle. Jordan Neely’s father, who was present in the courtroom for the verdict, was escorted out of the courtroom after an audible outburst with expletives.
— Omar Jimenez (@OmarJimenez) December 9, 2024
A Manhattan jury found Penny not guilty of criminally negligent homicide Monday after Judge Maxwell Riley dismissed a second degree manslaughter charge Friday.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office charged Penny over the death of 30-year-old homeless man Jordan Neely after Penny physically restrained him on a subway in May 2023.
Neely was screaming at commuters in an aggressive and threatening manner when Penny took him to the ground in an attempt to subdue him. Neely had 42 previous arrests between 2013 and 2021, some for violent crimes. At trial, jurors heard testimony that Neely said “I’ll hurt everyone here! I’ll kill you! I don’t care if I go to prison!”
Following the verdict, Zachery spoke to members of the media outside the courtroom and demanded action. (RELATED: ‘I’m Not Surprised’: CNN Legal Analyst Says Jury Had ‘Two Good Reasons’ To Acquit Daniel Penny)
“What are we gonna do, people? What’s gonna happen to us now? I had enough of this. The system is rigged. Come on, people. Let’s do something about this,” Zachery said Monday.
BREAKING: Jordan Neely’s father speaks on Daniel Penny being found not guilty:
“What are we gonna do, people? What’s gonna happen to us now? I had enough of this. The system is rigged. Come on, people… Let’s do something about this.”
pic.twitter.com/dTbrMHAutT— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) December 9, 2024
Zachery was mostly uninvolved in Neely’s life throughout his childhood, according to a 2023 New York Magazine profile of Neely.
The outlet reported that Neely went to live with his father when he was 18, but the pair fell out and Zachery took his keys after Neely reportedly refused to share the proceeds coming from his exploits as a Michael Jackson impersonator. Zachery denied that he took Neely’s keys, according to the outlet.
Neely checked into Bellevue Men’s Shelter in April 2011 for the first time when he was 19 years old, according to NY Mag.
Zachery is suing Daniel Penny in civil court for damages “in a sum which exceeds the jurisdictional limits of all lower Courts which would otherwise have jurisdiction,” according to the lawsuit.
