In the span of six days, subway vigilante Daniel Penny has gone from sweating in a futuristic prison cell to hanging out with the President-elect in a luxury suite.
The Marine vet was welcomed like a hero Saturday when he joined soon-to-be Commander-in-Chief Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance at the annual Army-Navy football game.
Penny, who was that? A Manhattan jury acquitted NYC subway rider Jordan Neely of strangulation in the death on Monday. Vance was Vance’s personal guest in the president-elect’s suite at Northwest Stadium in Landover, MD, attending the grudge match.
Others attending the game included Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth, Intelligence Director nominee Tulsi Gabbard, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and billionaire Elon Musk.
Before kickoff, Penny was seen talking with Vance, the future veep’s wife, Usha Vance, and Johnson in the luxury suite.
Minutes later, Trump was seen standing next to Vance, shaking his fist and waving to the crowd, saying “USA!” USA!” and then saluting while singing the national anthem. Penny was off to the side, sipping a drink.
“Daniel is a good guy, and New York’s mob district attorney tried to ruin his life because of his spinelessness,” Vance wrote to X Friday.
“I am grateful that he accepted my invitation and hope that he will be able to enjoy and appreciate how much his fellow citizens appreciate his courage.”
Vance invited the 26-year-old Long Islander to a game at the 65,000-seat home of the Washington Commanders, while texting Penny’s lead attorney, Thomas Kenniff, to congratulate him on the decision.
“He was very humbled and grateful to be invited,” Kenniff told The Post on Saturday.
Jurors acquitted Penny of criminally negligent homicide after a month-long trial following the fatal encounter captured on camera with a distraught Neely on an Uptown F train in May 2023 — which resulted in four years behind bars. There is a provision for punishment up to.
This decision comes a few days after even more serious Murder charges dismissed by prosecutors After 12 jurors – seven women and five men – deadlocked over that rap.
The lightning-rod case has sparked fierce debate and political division across the country about mental illness, crime, vigilantism and race.
Vance and several other conservative pols have publicly praised the decision, while criticizing Bragg for criminally charging Penny.
However, many on the far-left have dismissed Neely’s death as an unnecessary act of vigilante violence, including state Sen. Jabari Brisport (D-Brooklyn), who claimed that the 30-year-old homeless man was “beaten to death” and Representative Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-N.Y.), who claimed Neely was “murdered”.
Others, including Mayor Eric Adams, argued that the case exposed a broken system that is failing Neely and others suffering from mental health problems or drug dependence. Adams has said he “respects” the jury’s verdict but declined to say whether he agreed with it.
Trump has not mentioned the case publicly recently, but a source with knowledge of the situation said he was heavily invested in the case and sought frequent updates during the trial. Penny and Trump also talked one night while the jury was deliberating, the source said.
Throughout the trial, Bragg’s prosecutors continually played the race card before jurors, routinely calling Perry a “white man” and alleging racist motives for his actions – even after witness testimony. Confirmed that almost everyone in the subway car had been terrified for 30 years. -The behavior of Old Blue.
Neely – who was schizophrenic and had synthetic marijuana in his system – was behaving erratically, shouting “I’m ready to die”, while throwing trash at passengers and saying he wanted to kill someone, The witnesses testified.
Penny held him for several minutes while the train was moving, and officers responding to the scene said Neely had a light pulse when they arrived, but he died shortly afterward.
Neely had previously been convicted of attacking people at subway stations.
With American Athletic Conference champion Army having an 11–1 record and Navy having an 8–3 record, Penny was treated to one of the most anticipated matchups in the series in decades.
Both teams re-emerged as nationally relevant college football programs this year and are headed to bowl games later this month.
Heading into Saturday’s contest, Navy led the series 62–55, with seven games ending in a tie.
The series has been played annually since 1930 and dates back to 1890.
(Tags to translate) Politics (T) US News (T) Metro (T) Alvin Bragg (T) Army Black Knights (T) Army-Navy Game (T) College Football Playoff (T) Daniel Penny (T) Donald Trump(T)JD Vance(T)Jordan Neely(T)Navy Midshipmen(T)Subway
