The acquittal of Daniel Penny in the killing of Jordan Neely is a profound tragedy and an indictment of a justice system that continues to devalue Black life. On Tuesday, a jury delivered a verdict that not only exonerated Penny of criminally negligent homicide but also affirmed an unsettling precedent: that the mere perception of threat, rooted in racial bias, can justify the extrajudicial killing of a Black man in America.
Neely was a 30-year-old Black man in the throes of a mental health crisis, crying out for help on a New York City subway. Instead of compassion, he was met last year with violence. Penny, a white man with no authority to intervene, decided that Neely’s distress warranted a chokehold — a brutal act that ended his life. Neely’s death should have sparked outrage over the systemic failures that leave Black Americans disproportionately vulnerable to mental health crises, homelessness and violence.