Supporters flood crowd funding effort for Daniel Penny, 24, as donations soar to
Republican Party presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy has donated $10,000 to a crowdfunding effort for Daniel Penny who was charged with second-degree manslaughter for the death of a homeless schizophrenic.
The GiveSendGo fundraising campaign – which has now soared to $2 million in donations – was set up by the 24-year-old ex-marine’s attorneys after a video emerged of him holding Jordan Neely in a chokehold on a New York City subway on May 1.
They say it will be used to pay for the Long Island native’s legal fees and for ‘any future civil lawsuits that may arise, as well as expenses related to his defense.’
On May 5, Rawaswamy tweeted his opinions on the case, stating that Jordan Neely was a ‘habitual offender’ who should have ‘faced justice’ earlier.
He went on to list a series of crimes which Neely had been arrested for in the past eight years.
Republican Party presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy has donated $10,000 to a crowdfunding effort for Daniel Penny who was charged with second-degree manslaughter for the death of a homeless schizophrenic
Daniel Penny, 24, was charged with second-degree manslaughter of Jordan Neely, 30
This image, provided by Mills & Edwards, LLP, in New York, Friday, May 12, 2023, shows Jordan Neely
He penned: ‘The moral of the Jordan Neely story isn’t complicated: he was a habitual offender who should’ve been behind bars or in a mental institution, not free to terrorize New Yorkers. If local police had been allowed to do their jobs, that man would still be alive today – in custody.
‘In 2015, Jordan Neely kidnapped a 7 year old girl. In 2019, Jordan Neely punched a 64 year old man in the face. In 2021, Jordan Neely slugged a 67 year old woman in the face as she exited the subway, breaking her nose and fracturing her orbital bone. Neely was arrested 44 times, but never faced real justice for terrorizing New Yorkers. The @ManhattanDA shares responsibility for his death for creating an anti law enforcement culture. Habitual felons like Neely should not roam freely to terrorize & prey on innocent members of our communities.’
On Friday, Penny was freed pending trial hours after turning himself in at a police precinct and appearing in court to answer criminal charges. He did not enter a plea.
On Sunday, the campaign page hit the £1 million mark after Florida governor Ron DeSantis shared a Twitter link to the page – showing that support for the former soldier has soared quickly.
Many of those who have donated large sums to Penny’s cause are anonymous, including another who also made a $10,000 pledge.
They left a comment which read: ‘Thank you for protecting the citizens that day.’
The third highest giver, who pledged $5,000, is also anonymous.
That person wrote: ‘Do the right thing. Dan did. It’s not that tough.’
Following his arrest, Bail bondsman Ira Judelson told DailyMail.com Penny was ‘very quiet and nervous’ and was ‘respectful’.
While Penny was charged in the aftermath— the other two men seen in the video seen holding Neely down were never named nor charged with any wrongdoing.
Now, Penny’s family says, the Marine vet is being ‘railroaded’ by the legal system.
‘It’s disgusting,’ Justine Baldwin, Penny’s cousin, told the New York Post. ‘Here’s a young man who served our country.’
‘What about the other two gentlemen on the subway who were helping him (restrain Neely)? They haven’t even been named.’
While footage of Penny restraining Neely sparked controversy, his relatives have described him as ‘calm’ and a ‘fun kid’.
Some have attempted to depict the veteran as a privileged individual in the aftermath of the incident, but those that knew him revealed he grew up in a middle-class military family in Long Island.
‘He was always there for his family and his sisters,’ added Baldwin. ‘Danny has always been calm, he comes from a calm family.’
Neighbors reportedly added that he even lived out of a van at one time, while he previously shared a three-bedroom home with his three sisters and parents.
‘Danny was always fun and goofy and never harmed anyone,’ said the Marine’s friend Devin Marino.
‘He was always super inclusive,’ he added. ‘His family was really nice and had an open door policy.’
Neighbors who knew Penny and his family in West Islip also praised the veteran, with Marcia Mulcahy, who lived across the street from him for four years, describing him as ‘a lovely kid.’
‘The family could not have been nicer,’ she added. ‘Just look at the fundraiser to see how people feel about him.
‘We’re all contributing to it. He was just trying to help on the subway. It was obviously a scary situation and it all went wrong. But he didn’t go in there trying to hurt anyone. He was trying to help.’
Penny’s lawyer, Thomas Kenniff, revealed the veteran had been deployed twice over four years of service with the Marines, where he rose to the rank of sergeant before he was honorably discharged in 2021.