The Risks of Restraint

Use-of-Force, Proportionality + the Daniel Penny Case

For anyone not following the case, a New York jury recently acquitted Daniel Penny on charges of criminally negligent homicide related to the death of Jordan Neely. We'll begin with the facts we know, and then evaluate the case for lessons learned when it comes to questions of use-of-force and our rights to defend ourselves, and others, in public places.

In May 2023, New York City was in the midst of a wave of violent crime, especially within the confines of its subway system. Penny, a former Marine trained in Marine Corps Martial Arts, happened to be riding the subway when Neely, a thirty-year-old Michael Jackson impersonator with a long history of mental illness and violent crime, boarded and began to threaten other passengers, asking for money and saying he wanted to do something that would get him sent back to jail. As Neely's threats and disturbing statements escalated, Penny decided to intervene, overtaking Neely and subduing him with a rear choke and the aid of several other passengers. Six minutes later, the police arrived, and Neely was still conscious.

But before he was delivered to the hospital, Neely had died.

In the court of public opinion, the question was whether Penny was simply trying to defend his fellow passengers from a man who was violently threatening everyone on the train, or were his actions racially motivated? .....