The Full Belmonte, May 13, 2023
Man charged with manslaughter over subway chokehold death of Jordan Neely in New York
Daniel Penny, a former marine who surrendered to police in New York, could face up to 15 years in prison if found guilty
“The man who killed Jordan Neely after putting him in a chokehold while on a subway in New York City has been charged with second-degree manslaughter, the Manhattan district attorney’s office said on Friday.
Daniel Penny, 24, could face up to 15 years in prison if found guilty under the charge. Penny surrendered himself to New York police on Friday morning.
He appeared in criminal court in Manhattan to answer the charge, did not enter a plea, and was released on a $100,000 bond.
Penny’s attorney, Thomas Kenniff, told ABC News his client ‘has been fully cooperative’ with authorities after Neely’s death. ‘We fully expect Danny will be exonerated of all charges,’ a statement from Penny’s legal team added.
Penny killed Neely on 1 May after putting him in a deadly chokehold. Neely, who was homeless, had been shouting at passengers that he was hungry and thirsty, and that he did not care if he went to jail. In a clip that went viral on social media, Penny can be seen keeping Neely in a chokehold, while other passengers assist in restraining him.
Neely was transferred unconscious to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The city medical examiner later ruled his death a homicide, having died from having his neck compressed during the chokehold.
Penny, who is white and a former US marine, was initially detained and questioned by police immediately after the incident but was released without charges.
The video sparked widespread protest around racial injustice and the failures of the city’s treatment of those that need social services. Neely, who was Black, had long suffered a series of mental illnesses and was known to homeless advocates in the city, reportedly being on a city roster of the ‘top 50’ homeless individuals most in need of help.
Neely, once a talented Michael Jackson impersonator, had suffered PTSD and severe depression after his mother was murdered by his stepfather in 2007, when Neely was 14. He also had autism and developed schizophrenia, relatives said. He suffered a series of mental health crises and faced multiple arrests while living on the streets.
On 5 May, four days after the killing, lawyers for Penny released a statement on his behalf that said Neely had a history of violent behavior and called for the city to address mental health crises. Neely’s family responded with their own press release on 8 May that called Penny’s statement ‘a character assassination and a clear example of why he believed he was entitled to take Jordan’s life’….” Read more at The Guardian
“While more signs point to the US economy slowing and the Federal Reserve making progress in its inflation fight, Washington could soon destroy all that while jolting the global economy in unprecedented fashion. US President Joe Biden is expected to meet next week with Republican leaders who have been demanding unrelated cuts to spending as their price for letting America pay its bills. A growing chorus is warning that the fallout from a default could lead to a deep recession, a spike in unemployment and borrowing rates, a blow to national security and other grim ripple effects. With US government cash set to run out in the coming weeks, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen repeated that the only good outcome is for Congress to raise the country’s $31.4 trillion borrowing limit—though she hasn’t said what measures she would take if that doesn’t happen. The International Monetary Fund warned of “very serious repercussions” for the global economy, while JPMorgan Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon, who says his bank is convening a war room to prep for the self-inflicted disaster, took a jab at Donald Trump for encouragingthe GOP to dig in over raising the debt limit even if it means crashing the economy. ‘It’s one more thing he doesn’t know very much about,’ Dimon says. ‘Anyone who’s anyone knows that is potentially catastrophic.’” [Bloomberg]
“No Latin American country churned out as many college graduates as Venezuela during the petroleum-powered boom that began there in the 1970s. Now, migration experts estimate some 2 million Venezuelans with advanced degrees live outside the country as turmoil at home prompted a brain drain. In Panama alone, the expats have started more than 5,500 businesses and are contributing more than $200 million a year in taxes and fees.” [Bloomberg]
Gian Guido Arditi, Ron Diplomático’s manager in Panama, says the 2015 collapse of Venezuela’s petroleum boom drove his rum company out of the country. Photographer: Rose Marie Cromwell for Bloomberg Businessweek
“In the early 2000s, people in northern Venezuela say, a man tried to grow coral for decorating aquariums. But the pinkish-white species turned into an ecological disaster, colonizing 1.2 million square miles of the sea floor in the Caribbean, where it’s wreaking havoc on marine habitats and other coral species.” [Bloomberg]
Unomia stolonifera is proliferating and threatening other coral species in Aragua state, Venezuela. Photographer: Yuri Cortez/AFP/Getty Images
THE WEEK IN CULTURE
Writers picketing in Brooklyn.James Estrin/The New York Times
“Hollywood is bracing for a prolonged writers’ strike. The last one led to rushed production and a turbocharge of reality programming.
MTV News bridged a gap between news and pop culture. As it prepares to shut down, Kurt Loder, Tabitha Soren, Sway Calloway and others reflected on its legacy.
E. Jean Carroll’s clothes helped build her case against Donald Trump, The Times’s Vanessa Friedman writes.
For “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” the writer-director James Gunn wanted to finish the trilogy on his own terms.
The “Succession” actor Jeremy Strong will star in a Broadway revival of “An Enemy of the People.”
Twenty years after “Freaky Friday,” Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan keep in touch and are in talks for a sequel.
Heather Armstrong, the blogger who died this week at 47, was the original influencer, Lisa Belkin writes. (Listen to Belkin’s reflection.)
A new exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum reunites Vincent van Gogh’s paintings of cypress trees, which preoccupied him toward the end of his life.
When a mustachioed man appeared at King Charles III’s coronation, some speculated it was Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in disguise. He insists he’s a real person.
In preparation for the Summer Olympics, Paris is remaking the Seine river.
The 76th Cannes Film Festival is next week. See 15 of the best looks from the event over the decades.” [New York Times]
$6 billion sale
Rookie Commanders practice in Ashburn, Va., yesterday. Photo: John McDonnell/The Washington Post via Getty Images
“The Washington Commanders have entered into an agreement to be bought by a group led by Philadelphia 76ers co-owner Josh Harris, both parties announced.
Why it matters: The move brings an official sale one step closer after months of bidding — a sale that would conclude the tumultuous decades-long run of owner Dan Snyder, writes Axios' Erin Doherty.
The deal is valued at $6 billion, the N.Y. Times reports.
The group includes Washington-area billionaire Mitchell Rales and former NBA star Magic Johnson.
Harris said: ‘Growing up in Chevy Chase, I experienced first-hand the excitement around the team, including its three Super Bowl victories and long-term winning culture.’” [Axios]