Subway choking victim Jordan Neely was laid to rest on Friday and eulogized by the Rev. Al Sharpton — who told a packed church that “when they choked Jordan, they put their arms around all of us.”
Sharpton’s explosive comments came three weeks after Neely – who had a long history of mental illness and poilce run-ins – died when former Marine Daniel Penny wrapped him in a chokehold during an outburst on an F Train in Manhattan.
“Because when they choked Jordan, they put their arms around all of us,” Sharpton told the packed Mount Neboh Baptist Church in Harlem on Friday. “All of us have the right to live.”
He also took the time to rip Penny, who has been charged with manslaughter for killing Neely in the May 1 incident.
“Who thought it was alright for this man to choke a brother to death and go home to see his family?” Sharpton asked the crowd. “Who gave the order it was alright to release him?
Neely’s death and the subsequent charges filed against Penny have ignited a firestorm of controversy over whether the Queens resident had a right to lay hands on Neely after the homeless man started ranting and threatening people on the train.
At Neely’s funeral, his family, friends and other mourners gathered to honor a different Jordan, who they remembered as talented, albeit troubled, man.
“Jordan was an amazing dancer — phenomenal,” Rocco Polanco, a childhood friend, told The Post. “He was a reflection of Michael Jackson — he had every move down pat, and even had the same facial structure.”
When the King of Pop passed away in 2009, it was Neely who lifted them up through his skilled impersonation, he said.
“He made us all feel good when Michael Jackson died,” said Polanco, 19, of the Bronx. “People came to Times Square just to see [Jordan].”
But Neely had gone downhill in recent years, a descent that friends and family have attributed to the brutal murder of his mother in 2007. Neely sank into a deep depression and was never properly treated, they said.
Polanco said he saw Neely a couple years ago. He could tell his old friend had fallen on hard times.
“I gave him all my money,” Polanco said. “He wasn’t doing too good. I reminded him that we used to dance, and he smirked for a second. Then he went back to a blank face, like he was ashamed.”
Neeely’s slide continued until earlier this month, when witnesses say he went on an explosive tirade on the subway, allegedly throwing garbage at other straphangers, threatening them and claiming he was willing to “[take] a bullet” or go to jail.
Penny grabbed Neely from behind and placed him in a chokehold, and a pair of other passengers helped the former infantry squad leader restrain the struggling Neely.
But the chokehold allegedly ended up killing him. The city medical examiner ruled Neely’s death a homicide, and noted that he died from “compression of neck (chokehold).”
Penny’s defense team claims he wasn’t trying to kill Neely when he grabbed him — he was merely trying to protect himself and others. Penny remains free on $100,000 bail.
Neely’s family was subdued on Friday.
His father, Andre Zachery, stayed silent and kept his eyes down during the funeral. Outside the church, he said only that he was “alright” before he was ushered into a car in the funeral procession.
But others spoke loudly about the injustice they feel Neely endured.
“Here we are in the year 2023 having witnessed a lynching in the public square,” said Yusef Salaam, one of the teenage boys known as the “Central Park Five” who was wrongly convicted and sentenced to prison for allegedly raping a white woman in 1989.
“A lynching of a black man never given a chance by a system that designed to keep him oppressed,” Salaam said. “A citizen was allowed to be judge, jury and executioner. And it all happened on a train.”
Jumaane Williams, the city’s progressive public advocate, added outside the church that “If a black homeless man had choked a white Marine to death, he’d still be on Rikers Island.”
“We can’t just say you’re allowed to choke someone to death,” Williams said. “Jordan Neely’s life mattered.”
And Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the Democratic congresswoman who represents parts of the Bronx and Queens, said Jordan was seen, loved and cared for.
“He contributed to this community,” she said. “What we saw today was a gathering of hundreds of people who knew him and saw him and valued him. It’s important a human life is recognized.”
Noel McDonald, a 50-year-old Brooklyn man, said he didn’t know Neely’s family but felt compelled to pay his last respects.
What we know about NYC subway choking victim Jordan Neely
Who was Neely?
Jordan Neely, 30, a homeless man, was strangled aboard a northbound F train just before 2:30 p.m. May 1, according to police.
He reportedly started acting erratically on the train and harassing other passengers before being restrained and ultimately choked by a straphanger, identified as Daniel Penny, a 24-year-old former Marine from Queens.
Penny, who was seen on video applying the chokehold, was taken into custody and later released. He was eventually charged with second-degree manslaughter.
Why is there fallout over Neely’s death?
The city medical examiner ruled Neely’s death a homicide, noting he died due to “compression of neck (chokehold).”
Neely’s aunt told The Post that he became a “complete mess” following the brutal murder of his mother in 2007. She noted he was schizophrenic and suffered from PTSD and depression.
“The whole system just failed him. He fell through the cracks of the system,” Carolyn Neely said.
Who is Penny?
24-year-old former Marine Daniel Penny served as an infantry squad leader and an instructor in water survival while in the Marines Corps from 2017 to 2021, according to his online resume. Penny graduated from high school in West Islip, NY.
He surrendered to authorities 11 days after he placed Neely in a fatal chokehold on an F train.
“That brother in there was talented,” McDonald told The Post. “He was gifted. And sure he was homeless — he was homeless because he was carrying mental pain from his mother’s murder.”
“All he wanted was food and help and he was choked to death for it,” McDonald continued. “Nobody deserves that. I get it, sometimes people lash out. But that’s not an excuse to kill them … This is about justice.”
