Daniel Penny defense fund tops $2 million with help from Kid Rock: ‘Mr. Penny is a hero’

Daniel Penny now can afford the best lawyers.

A defense fund for the former Marine, who killed a threatening mentally-ill criminal on the New York subway earlier this month, has taken in more than $2.2 million by Monday afternoon with the help of such conservative stars as musician Kid Rock.

“Mr. Penny is a hero,” Kid Rock wrote on the campaign’s page at the crowdfunding site GiveSendGo.

Manhattan District Attorney “Alvin Bragg is a POS — Kid Rock,” he added along with his $5,000 donation.

Other big-dollar donors, according to a report in the New York Post, included YouTube star Tim Pool, who donated $20,000, and Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who contributed $10,000.

All told, more than 46,500 people had sent money to the fund by 5 p.m. Monday.

“The importance of this support has gone beyond the dollar amount raised and has come to symbolize a statement of support for the right and duty to stand up for each other when faced with an imminent threat,” Steven M. Raiser, Mr. Penny’s attorney, told the Post.

Mr. Penny, 24, is free on $100,000 bail on charges of second-degree manslaughter in the death of Jordan Neely.

According to eyewitnesses to the confrontation, the 30-year-old homeless man with a history of mental illness and multiple assault charges was threatening passengers, demanding money and food, and bragging that he wasn’t afraid to die.

Mr. Penny used his combative training to wrestle Neely to the ground and put him in a choke hold, from which he died.