Jordan Neely Death: Outrage Grows Over Subway Choking
The medical examiner revealed Jordan Neely died from "compression of neck"; they determined death to be a homicide.
A white ex-marine choked to death a 30-year-old man named Jordan Neely who was acting in an “erratic manner" while riding a New York City train on Monday (May 1).According to Juan Alberto Vazquez — a freelance journalist who taped the encounter and posted it on his Facebook page, “Luces de Nueva York," — Neely was screaming on the train, saying: “‘I don’t have food, I don’t have a drink, I’m fed up... I don’t mind going to jail and getting life in prison. I’m ready to die.’”
Vazquez said he was non-violent but started to throw garbage at fellow commuters. This is when the a 24-year-old U.S. Marine Corps veteran — whose name has not yet been released — got involved and restrained him.
The altercation took place at 2:30 PM local time on an F train heading toward the Broadway-Lafayette station. In Vazquez's video, you can see Neely being held down for at least two minutes. Even after Neely stopped moving, the man still continued to hold him down for at least another 50 seconds. According to multiple reports, the man had Neely in the chokehold for 15 minutes. Neely was laying motionless and at one point you can hear someone saying, “He’ll be all right."
The conductor soon called 911 and by the time EMS came, Neely was unconscious. Neely was later taken to Lenox Health hospital in Greenwich Village, where he was pronounced dead. On Wednesday, May 3rd, the medical examiner revealed Neely died from "compression of neck (chokehold)"; they determined the death to be a homicide.
Although the ex-Marine was taken in for questioning, he was released without charges, causing outrage among many progressive users on social media. Before the autopsy results were released, a rally for Neely was held at the Broadway-Lafayette station. Some New Yorkers remembered Neely as once being a Michael Jackson impersonator.
The NYPD has shared Neely’s criminal history, which includes 40 arrests, and also revealed that he had documented issues with mental health. Officials were reportedly looking for Neely for an assault he was allegedly involved with in 2021.