NYPD detectives and Manhattan prosecutors were conferring Thursday on whether to criminally charge a Marine veteran in the caught-on-camera chokehold death of a mentally-ill Michael Jackson impersonator, police sources said.
No criminal charges have been filed but detectives and members of the Manhattan District Attorney’s office were having intense discussions on whether to arrest the Marine for Jordan Neely’s death.
Neely, 30, was a familiar sight around town, performing in Times Square and on subways as the King of Pop.
A war of words was also being levied between city political leaders, with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez calling Neely’s death a “public murder.”
Rev. Al Sharpton likened the Marine’s actions to that of famed subway gunman Bernie Goetz, recalling the shooting of four Black youths on a train beneath Manhattan just before Christmas in 1984.
“We cannot end up back to a place where vigilantism is tolerable,” he said. “It wasn’t acceptable then, and it can’t be acceptable now.”
The city Medical Examiner determined Wednesday that Neely died from compressions to the neck during a Monday afternoon brawl with the Marine on a Manhattan F train.
Neely has been yelling and throwing garbage at passengers, witnesses told cops, when the Marine stepped in.
The Marine put the victim in a chokehold and tried to restrain him.
A video of the confrontation shows the ex-Marine with his left arm around Neely’s neck as they struggle.
A second man helped restrain Neely, who turned on his side and continued kicking his legs until he finally stopped moving about two minutes into the video.
Neely fell unconscious on the train as the ex-Marine held him in the chokehold. A conductor called for police, the video shows. First responders took Neely to Lenox Hill Hospital, where he died.
“NYC is not Gotham,” city Comptroller Brad Lander tweeted Wednesday. “We must not become a city where a mentally ill human being can be choked to death by a vigilante…
Read the full article here
Leave a Reply