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13 arrested in Jordan Neely protest that took over Manhattan subway station
By
Jaclyn Jeffrey-Wilensky
and
Bahar Ostadan
Published May 6, 2023
Modified May 7, 2023
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Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images
By
Jaclyn Jeffrey-Wilensky
and
Bahar Ostadan
Published May 6, 2023
Modified May 7, 2023
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Protesters took over the 63rd Street-Lexington Avenue subway station on Saturday evening, calling for justice for Jordan Neely, who was choked to death aboard an F train on Monday.
Police arrested 13 people who were protesting Neely's death at the station on Saturday evening, according to the NYPD. One person was issued a summons, and the other 12 were hit with varying charges for resisting arrest, obstructing governmental administration, assault, trespassing and unlawful interference of a railroad train, police said.
Footage by ABC News shows police clashing with protesters on a packed subway platform, next to a stopped train with its doors jammed open. The protest began downtown, and protesters marched through Midtown before converging on the station.
At 6:18 p.m., the MTA posted an alert to its Twitter account noting that F and Q train service was interrupted due to “people being disruptive at Lexington Av/63 St.” Service had resumed by 7 p.m., according to the MTA.
Video posted to Twitter, meanwhile, depicted protesters jumping onto the subway tracks and chanting Neely's name.
Talia Jane said they followed the protest from the Broadway-Lafayette station downtown up to Midtown. They estimated nearly 300 protesters poured into the 63rd Street-Lexington Avenue station, and dozens jumped onto the tracks.
"People started waving their phone lights into the tunnel to notify any incoming train that there were people on the tracks," Jane said.
Phone footage captured on Monday by journalist Juan Alberto Vasquez shows the 30-year-old Neely being put in a chokehold by Daniel Penny, a 24-year-old Marine Corps veteran from Long Island.
The city’s medical examiner ruled Neely’s death by chokehold as a homicide. Neely’s mother was strangled to death by her partner in 2007, when Neely was 14.
Penny has not been charged with a crime. The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and NYPD say they are investigating the death.
Thomas Kenniff, an attorney representing Penny, would not comment on Sunday as to whether he expected any charges against his client.
“We’ll see how things play out,” he told Gothamist. “I would just encourage everyone to wait to see how things unfold and be respectful of the presumption of innocence.”
This story was updated with more details from the NYPD and accounts from the scene.
Tagged
protest
Jordan Neely
Jaclyn Jeffrey-Wilensky
Jaclyn is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Bahar Ostadan
Bahar Ostadan covers the NYPD and public safety. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or message Bahar on Signal at 646-740-7335.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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