UPPER EAST SIDE, Manhattan (WABC) — A handful of protesters over Jordan Neely’s death are being sought by police for jumping onto subway tracks and disrupting service over the weekend.
The sailor at the center of this controversy has not been arrested.
Officials say protesters took to the tracks at the Q train station near Lexington Avenue and 63rd Street. The NYPD has already arrested 13 other people after this protest in the wake of Neely’s death.
A grand jury is expected to decide whether Marine Daniel Penny, 24, will face criminal charges for choking Neely to death aboard a subway train.
Among the considerations, did Neely pose a threat to the safety of the other passengers, and did Penny use excessive force when she held Neely in that chokehold for about 15 minutes?
Penny subdued Neely after passengers on the train reported Neely harassing and threatening them while begging for food.
“The individual who did this has to testify at some point to say, ‘I was in fear for my life and I just wanted to end the situation as best I could.’ These things matter. These witness statements will play a big part in this ” said former NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce.
Neely had previously been arrested 44 times for multiple assaults, attempted child abduction, drugs and indecent exposure. Officials say he had at least 43 cases of an “assisted case,” where mental health workers brought him in for treatment.
The day before his death he was under investigation for pushing someone onto the tracks. There was currently a warrant out for Neely’s arrest in the violent attack of an elderly woman.
RELATED| Jordan Neely’s family calls subway choking death an ‘injustice’
“When I heard him yelling and ranting, last time I checked the penalty for ranting wasn’t death. He looked visibly hurt and hurt where he couldn’t act, he said, ‘I’m hungry, people help me.’ “Lance. Clarke, a friend of Neely’s, said.
As protesters cried foul over the weekend, friends remembered a street performer who impersonated Michael Jackson. Neely’s friends also say this was a man who needed proper psychiatric help.
“Really worried about him the last time I saw him. He said, ‘I’m going to make it, trust me,'” Moses Harper said. Neely was on an unofficial city list of the 50 homeless people most in need of care.
Penny’s lawyer issued a statement that Penny had been aggressively threatened by Neely, leading Penny and other subway riders to take cover before the police arrived. The attorney also said Penny could not have foreseen Neely’s death.
RELATED| Jordan Neely’s family calls subway choking death an ‘injustice’
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