By Nathan Layne
(Reuters) – Daniel Penny, a former U.S. Marine who restrained a New York Metropolis subway rider with a chokehold and was this week acquitted of murder in his loss of life, will attend Saturday’s Military-Navy soccer sport as Vice President-elect JD Vance’s visitor.
Vance stated in an X submit on Friday that Penny had accepted his invitation to affix him for the storied matchup, which garners the nationwide highlight yearly. President-elect Donald Trump may also be on the sport in Landover, Maryland.
A Manhattan jury discovered Penny, 26, not responsible of criminally negligent murder on Monday within the loss of life of Jordan Neely, who prosecutors acknowledged was agitated and performing in a threatening method as he boarded an uptown prepare on Might 1, 2023.
The case drew widespread public consideration, with some viewing Neely, who was Black, as a sufferer of a white vigilante. Others, together with some Republican politicians, described Penny as a hero for shielding others on the prepare.
“Daniel’s a good guy, and New York’s mob district attorney tried to ruin his life for having a backbone,” Vance wrote on X.
“I’m grateful he accepted my invitation and hope he’s able to have fun and appreciate how much his fellow citizens admire his courage,” Vance added.
Penny’s lawyer, Steven Raiser, confirmed his consumer would attend the sport as Vance’s visitor.
“He’s not viewing it as a political statement. He’s viewing it as just basically an honor,” Raiser stated. “If it were a president in office who was a Democrat, who invited him to the Army-Navy game as a way to show support to the military and for his country, he would have gladly accepted that as well.”
Penny has stated he by no means supposed to kill Neely, a 30-year-old homeless man with a historical past of psychological sickness. Penny didn’t testify throughout the trial, which started in October. He left the courtroom on Monday with out commenting to media.
Previous to Monday’s acquittal, a decide had already dismissed a extra severe cost, manslaughter within the second diploma, after jurors emerged twice throughout their third day of deliberations to say they have been divided on it.
