Daniel Penny's acquittal reveals 'double standard' about white vigilante crime

[Jilly_in_VA]

Analysis
Daniel Penny’s acquittal reveals ‘double standard’ about white vigilante crime
Gloria Oladipo
In longstanding pattern in the US, white killers are celebrated and Black victims denigrated, experts say

Tue 10 Dec 2024 11.52 EST
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On Monday, Daniel Penny, a 26-year-old white man, was acquitted of all charges related to the 1 May 2023 killing of Jordan Neely, a 30-year-old unhoused Black man with severe mental illness, on a New York City subway train. Penny was charged with second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide after he choked Neely for nearly six minutes, causing his death. The Marine veteran claimed self-defense after an unarmed Neely made threats to passengers and complained of being hungry and thirsty, according to witness testimony.

In a police interview following Neely’s death, Penny referred to Neely as “just a crackhead” who was “acting like a lunatic”. Experts say Penny’s acquittal fits into a longstanding pattern of how white vigilante crime is treated in the US, with white killers celebrated and Black victims denigrated.

“In situations where people of color have tried to defend themselves, it’s a whole different result,” said Mark Brodin, a professor of law at Boston College Law School. “It’s as transparent a double standard as you can ever imagine. And race is the only explanation. Class enters into it with Mr Neely, his mental problems entered into it. But race is at the top of the pyramid.”

Despite widespread outrage about Neely’s killing in New York City, Penny received an onslaught of support from those on the far right after his arrest. A crowdfunding campaign for Penny’s legal fund amassed more than $2.9m in the months after the incident. (Neely’s burial funds, on the other hand, raised just $150,094.) The Fox News host Greg Gutfeld called Neely a “violent mess” who was “better at impersonating Michael Meyers than Michael Jackson”, referring to Neely’s previous impersonations of the pop star. And another Fox News pundit, Kayleigh McEnany, laughed alongside her colleagues at protesters who gathered to condemn Neely’s killing.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/dec/10/daniel-penny-acquittal-white-vigilante-crime

Says a lot about Faux Noise and Kayleigh McInane

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1. It's a huge double standard IMO. I posted an OP yesterday here on the Penny...

acquittal and the push back I got from posters about the injustice of the guy getting off Scott free...no jail time, not even a few months wrist slap, no house arrest, not even probation...it was so discouraging, disgusting even.

Some posters saw the injustice, but overwhelmingly most were all for the well-meaning guy, apparently a sympathetic figure to them, getting off even though he caused the death of a disoriented, mentally unstable Black guy by choking him for 6 minutes. And BTW, I repeatedly mentioned that Penny, who had help from a couple of other passengers holding Neely, kept choking, not letting up for 6 minutes. He may have been well meaning, but appently not too smart. I didn't know at the time that Penny had said to police that Neely was "just another crackhead."

Again, disgusting. To me the elephant in the room, racism, it was so obviously being ignored.

Scott free, no charges at all? Come on, DU. Come on, America.