The caught-on-video chokehold death of a homeless, mentally-ill Michael Jackson impersonator by a former U.S. Marine aboard a Manhattan subway train was ruled a homicide on Wednesday as anger and protests erupted over the killing.
The city Medical Examiner found the cause of victim Jordan Neely’s Monday death was compression of the neck. The finding is a critical piece of the investigation as police said they were awaiting the results of the autopsy before determining if criminal charges should be filed.
The determination came after friends and elected officials expressed outrage over the death, insisting the homeless busker didn’t deserve to die. Neely, 30, was a familiar sight around town, performing in Times Square and on subways as the King of Pop.
“NYC is not Gotham,” city Comptroller Brad Lander tweeted. “We must not become a city where a mentally ill human being can be choked to death by a vigilante without consequence. ”
At least three people were cuffed following a demonstration inside the Broadway-Lafayette station, where the chokehold happened, and a subsequent march in the local streets.
Dozens of protesters and police faced off during a tense vigil-turned-protest on the crowded uptown platform, with activists chanting “Justice for Jordan Neely” and other slogans.
“They murdered a Black man and his only crime was screaming on a train,” Logan, a 30-year-old Brooklynite, told the Daily News. “This should not have happened. If you’re a native New Yorker, you’ve seen people having an outburst on a regular basis. That’s not a reason [to kill them].”
Friends Johnny Grima and James King came to the vigil, saying they had witnessed the Monday incident.
“They f—ing killed him, man. They choked him til he went unconscious and then they kept choking him,” Grima said.
“We didn’t do anything to stop it. To be honest with you, we are guilty of that,” he added.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office is probing the death.
“This…
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