New York City Mayor Eric Adams criticized local and congressional leaders Wednesday for harsh opinions in the case of a homeless man who died from a chokehold applied by another subway passenger this week.
Mr. Adams said that NYC Comptroller Brad Landers calling the passenger a vigilante and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez saying victim Jordan Neely was murdered were inappropriate at this point in the investigation.
“I don’t think that’s very responsible at the time where we’re still investigating the situation,” the mayor said on CNN. “To really interfere with that is not the right thing to do.”
Protesters gathered earlier Wednesday on the midtown Manhattan platform where Neely died to call for murder charges against the passenger, a 24-year-old ex-Marine. The city’s medical examiner ruled Neely’s death a homicide by way of pressure to the neck.
Freelance journalist Juan Alberto Vazquez captured the incident Monday on video, which shows the ex-Marine, who is White, applying a chokehold on Neely, who is Black, while two other male passengers help restrain the homeless man.
Video originally posted to https://t.co/vDzD1x1UI4 on May 1 showing Jordan Neely being held in a chokehold for close to four minutes.
— Crime in NYC (@CrimeInNYC) May 4, 2023
Not 15 minutes.
The video does not show how the incident began.
Once he stopped struggling, he was released.
If you witness a scene like this,… pic.twitter.com/Zpva0XLNZb</ a>
The four-minute clip shows Neely initially struggling in the chokehold until he goes limp. Calls for police are heard over the subway’s PA system, but they don’t show up before the video ends.
Mr. Vazquez said Neely got on the F train and whipped his jacket to the ground before he began ranting erratically.
“I don’t have food, I don’t have drink, I’m fed up. … I don’t mind going to jail and getting life in prison. … I’m ready to die,” Mr. Vazquez quoted Neely as saying in his Facebook post with the accompanying video.
Police said Neely was yelling at passengers and throwing garbage at them when the ex-Marine eventually seized the homeless man in the chokehold. Mr. Vazquez said the passenger’s grip lasted 15 minutes.
Medical personnel took Neely to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Police took the subway passenger into custody for questioning, according to the New York Post, but they released him without charges.
The ex-Marine has declined to answer subsequent media requests following the incident.
Mr. Vazquez told the Post that he has mixed feelings about the incident because Neely didn’t physically attack anyone.
“I think that in one sense it’s fine that citizens want to jump in and help. But I think as heroes we have to use moderation,” he said. “This would never have happened if the police had shown up within five minutes. Then we’d be talking about a true hero. It’s complicated.”
Neely had a documented history with mental health issues, being arrested over 40 times in the past decade, according to New York’s Daily News.
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.
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