NEW YORK (AP) — The choking death of a man in the New York subway was setting off powerful reactions Thursday, with some calling it a homicide and others defending the passenger’s actions as defense against disorder.
New York has become one of the nation’s safest large cities but the emotional responses recalled the metropolis of decades ago, when residents felt besieged by crime and fatal vigilantism made national headlines.
Manhattan prosecutors promised a “rigorous” investigation into whether to bring criminal charges in the death of the Black man, who was tackled by fellow passengers and put in a fatal chokehold by a white man who has been described as a Marine veteran.
Jordan Neely, 30, had earned money imitating Michael Jackson and died Monday after an early-afternoon confrontation aboard a train beneath Manhattan. He had been shouting at fellow passengers when another rider wrapped his arm around his neck and pinned him on the floor. Two other passengers also helped restrain Neely.
The medical examiner’s office Wednesday determined Neely died from compression of the neck, but the office said any determination about criminal culpability would be left to the legal system.
No one has been arrested but the Manhattan district attorney’s office said late Wednesday it would review autopsy reports, as well as “assess all available video and photo footage,”
