After acquittal in subway chokehold trial, Daniel Penny says he was vulnerable in the encounter
Associated PressNEW YORK — After being acquitted of homicide, the military veteran who choked a volatile, mentally ill man on a New York subway told an interviewer he put himself in a “very vulnerable position” but felt compelled to act. “I’ll take a million court appearances and people calling me names and people hating me, just to keep one of those people from getting hurt or killed,” Daniel Penny told Fox News in a clip that aired Tuesday, a day after the verdict. In his first extensive comments since the trial began, Penny told Fox News host Jeanine Pirro that he’s “not a confrontational person.” But he said he wouldn’t have been able to live with “the guilt I would have felt if someone did get hurt, if he did do what he was threatening to do.” Penny’s arm remained around Neely’s neck after another rider intervened to hold down the man’s arms, and onlookers worried aloud that Neely might be dying, and he went still for nearly a minute, bystanders’ video showed. Describing Neely as “a crackhead” who was “acting like a lunatic,” Penny said he put the man in a chokehold and “just put him out” in order to prevent him from injuring anyone. “I’m just trying to de-escalate the situation.” A city medical examiner determined that the chokehold killed Neely, but Penny’s defense challenged the finding.