Daniel Penny, charged with killing Jordan Neely, is gaining prayers, millions in donor dollars. Big names are helping.

A legal defense fund established on behalf of Daniel Penny, who has been charged in the chokehold killing of Jordan Neely on a subway car, has swelled to more than $2.62 million in a matter of days.

More than 54,000 people have donated to the fund set up by Penny’s lawyers on GiveSendGo, which bills itself as the “#1 Free Christian Fundraising Site” and “leading freedom fundraising platform.” Nearly 40,000 have offered their prayers as well. The fund was created last week by the law firm Raiser & Kenniff, P.C., and the money and prayers have flowed since – right along with the veneration of Penny by conservative politicians and politicians.

Donations have ranged from a few dollars to the thousands, including $10,000 from Vivek Ramaswamy, a Republican running for president, $5,000 from the musician Kid Rock and $20,000 from conservative commentator Timothy Pool. Penny, 24, has been arraigned on a second-degree manslaughter charge and has not yet entered a plea. The website does not indicate the origin of the donations, but the size and breadth of the support lay bare the challenge for prosecutors seeking to convict the decorated Marine veteran.

The killing of Neely, 30, on May 1 touched off days of demonstrations. Many protesters questioned why his killer wasn’t immediately arrested and charged. A widely viewed phone video showed Penny holding Neely in a chokehold on the floor of an F train subway car until his body went limp. Penny was charged on May 12 after additional investigation and pleas by prosecutors for witnesses to come forward, and remains free on $100,000 bail. Little has been made public about exactly what transpired before Penny’s intervention, except that Neely had been acting erratically. On GiveSendGo, however, donors have already made up their minds.