NEW YORK (WABC) – Daniel Penny was found not guilty of involuntary manslaughter in connection with Jordan Neely’s subway chokehold death.

The jury deliberated for more than 24 hours over five days before reaching its verdict.

As soon as the verdict was announced, the courtroom erupted in a mix of cheering, clapping and jeers.

Neely’s father cursed in anger shortly after the verdict and was forcibly removed from the courtroom by a court officer. Others in the gallery screamed, and one woman burst into tears.

“It’s a little world buddy,” a man shouted.

“No justice in this damn racist country,” said another.

As Penny left the courtroom, she smiled briefly before returning to her stony expression. His lawyers hugged each other as they sat at the legal table.

Neely’s father, Andre Zachary, filed a lawsuit against Penny last week. He stood alongside supporters Monday morning and criticized the jury’s verdict.

“I just want to say, I miss my son, my son didn’t have to go through this, I didn’t have to go through this either, it hurts, really, really hurts, what are we supposed to do guys? What is going to happen to us now? Zachary said.

As he spoke, protesters chanted “Say his name – Jordan Neely” and “No justice, no peace.” As the press conference continued, police broke up the crowd of protesters.

Zachary’s attorney expressed optimism that Neely’s family will still receive justice through a civil lawsuit against Penny.

“I promised this family justice – that’s what we will continue to do,” Donte Mills said. “The district attorney did a good job, but the jury failed us in this case.”

Eric Garner’s mother, Gwen Carr, whose son was killed by an NYPD officer who held him in a chokehold, criticized Neely’s death as history repeating itself.

“No one deserves to be suffocated,” she said. “You know, we’re in this courtroom and people are cheering the verdict.”

“It’s two justice systems and we have to stop this and the only way to stop it is to stand together,” she said. “We can’t allow that. If the police can’t do it, neither can the civilians, and I just want you to stand by this family.”

In a statement, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg thanked the jury and promised to respect their verdict.

“The jury has now spoken. In the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, we deeply respect the jury process and we respect their verdict,” he said.

Bragg said the length of the deliberations “underscored why this case was presented to a jury of Mr. Penny’s colleagues” and thanked his prosecutors for their work, noting that many of them received hate and threats.

“Unfortunately, talented prosecutors and their family members have been bombarded with hate and threats throughout this trial – on social media, by phone and by email. In short, this is unacceptable for anyone, no matter what their opinion is on it. If you do, you should condemn it,” he said.

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman said in a statement he was grateful Penny was acquitted:

“I have been convinced from day one that Daniel Penny was a hero, not a villain, and I am extremely grateful that a jury in Manhattan saw through all the political nonsense and found Daniel Penny not guilty in the death of Jordan Neely carries.”

Last week, the jury spent more than 23 hours over four days deliberating whether Penny, a 26-year-old Navy veteran and architecture student, committed second-degree manslaughter before repeatedly signaling that it could not reach a unanimous verdict.

Judge Maxwell Wiley ultimately granted prosecutors’ request to dismiss the first count, while Penny’s defense attorneys unsuccessfully pushed for a mistrial, arguing that continued deliberations could result in a “forced verdict or a compromised verdict” by allowing the jury to convict on the basis of the charges “prohibit” lesser charges.

Manslaughter would have required proof that Penny acted recklessly and grossly deviated from the conduct of a reasonable person, while proof of criminally negligent homicide would have required convincing the jury that Penny was engaging in “reprehensible behavior.” which he did not believe would result in a risk of death.

Data shows that the number of justified killings by civilians increased by 65% ​​from 2010 to 2023.

By 2019, the number of justified homicides committed by civilians actually exceeded the number of homicides committed by law enforcement officers.

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