New York police officers respond to the scene where a fight was reported on a subway train, Monday, May 1, 2023, in New York. A man suffering an apparent mental health episode aboard a New York City subway died on Monday after being placed in a headlock by a fellow rider, according to police officials and video of the encounter. Jordan Neely, 30, was shouting and pacing aboard an F train in Manhattan witnesses and police said, when he was taken to the floor by another passenger. Paul Martinka via AP
The choking death of a man at the hands of another New York subway rider was setting off powerful reactions Thursday, with some calling it a criminal, racist act even as authorities reserved judgment on the killing.
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 charges in the death of Jordan Neely, a Black man who was tackled by fellow passengers and put in the chokehold by a white Marine veteran.
The medical examiner’s office ruled Wednesday night that Neely, 30, died in a homicide caused by compression of the neck, but it said any determination about criminal culpability would be left to the legal system.
Regardless, many New Yorkers saw the choking as the latest in a long history of attacks on Black city residents.
“We’re like animals in white people’s backyards. They want to get rid of us,” said Diango Cici, a 53-year-old Manhattan resident.
Neely, who in the past had earned money imitating Michael Jackson, died Monday after the early-afternoon confrontation aboard a train beneath Manhattan. Neely, who had been homeless at times, according to people who knew him, was shouting at fellow passengers when another rider wrapped his arm around his neck and pinned him on the floor. Two other passengers…
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