N.Y. subway rider’s funeral draws crowd

Al Sharpton eulogizes Jordan Neely, who died after a passenger put him in chokehold.

NEW YORK — In the polarizing wake of Jordan Neely’s chokehold death at the hands of a fellow New York City subway rider, there has been a “distortion of values,” the Rev. Al Sharpton said Friday in eulogizing the former subway performer at his funeral.

Neely, who had struggled with mental illness and homelessness, “was screaming for help,” Sharpton told a crowd of the man’s family and friends as they mourned him alongside elected officials at Harlem’s Mount Neboh Baptist Church.

The May 1 death of Neely, 30, set off new debates about vigilantism, homelessness and public safety.

Those having mental health problems “don’t need abuse,” Sharpton said, chastising people including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has spoken out in support of Daniel Penny, the man who put Neely in the chokehold. DeSantis, a potential Republican presidential candidate, has called Penny, 24, a “good Samaritan” and shared a fundraising link for his legal defense, which has raised more than $2 million.

Sharpton noted that the biblical parable of the good Samaritan is about coming to the aid of someone in need.

“A good Samaritan helps those in trouble,” he said. “They don’t choke him out.”

“What happened to Jordan was a crime, and this family shouldn’t have to stand by themselves,” he added.

Rep. Alexandria OcasioCortez (D-N.Y.) and New York Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado were among the mourners at the funeral, held at the same church where Neely’s mother, Christie Neely, was eulogized. She was murdered when he was 14.

Neely’s last moments were recorded on video by an onlooker who said Neely had yelled at other passengers as he asked for money, but hadn’t attacked anyone.

Penny was charged with manslaughter last week by the Manhattan district attorney. Penny’s lawyers say he was acting to protect himself and other passengers after Neely made threatening statements.

News of Neely’s death and Penny’s subsequent arrest has divided people in New York and beyond. Some say Penny, a white Marine Corps veteran, was too quick to use deadly force on a Black man who posed no real threat. Others say Penny shouldn’t be punished for trying to protect people on the train.

The criminal justice system has also come under criticism over Penny initially being released after Neely’s death. Sharpton said that if the races of the men had been reversed, with a white man dying at a Black man’s hands, authorities “would not have let that Black guy leave the precinct that night.”

Although Neely had a history of disruptive behavior — he had been arrested multiple times and pleaded guilty this year to assaulting a stranger — his friends and relatives say they don’t believe he would have harmed anyone had Penny just left him alone.

Sharpton, standing in front of a white casket with a flower arrangement on top, also condemned government policies and social service systems, saying they had let Neely down and needed to be reformed.

“When they choked Jordan, they put their arms around all of us,” he said. “All of us have the right to live.”