WWhen Daniel Penny turned himself in to police on May 12, 2023, after the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office announced its decision to charge him with manslaughter, photos of his walk showed Penny looming like a giant over the two escorting New York Police Department detectives him down the steps of the 5th District to his arraignment. Even handcuffed, Penny stood a foot taller than the two officers and stood tall as they appeared to scurry. He looked like a Roman statue.

The longer you looked at it, the more you realized it looked like a certain Roman statue: the Dying Gaul. Same curly hair, same pointy nose, same prominent chin, same mustache, same jawline, everything.

The Dying Gaul is famous as a representation of dignity in defeat. The curly-haired warrior has a mortal wound, but his face is serene. For a while, it looked like Daniel Penny symbolized the same thing. His people, the ancient Americans, who still believe in old-fashioned virtues like law and order, were a defeated people, no less than the barbaric Gauls. White Marines physically subduing wayward vagrants were part of yesterday’s America, it was said. The America of tomorrow belongs to the Jordan Neelys of the world and their sponsors in the Democratic Party.

Then Donald Trump won the presidency. Suddenly Daniel Penny’s tribe was no longer a defeated people.

I personally believe that if Kamala Harris had won, Penny would have been convicted. In a jury trial, momentum matters, and until November 5, the momentum was solely with the prosecution. One of the witnesses in the subway car, Morielyn Sanchez, called 911 and stated that Neely was “trying to attack everyone” and that Penny appeared to be holding Neely with the intention of restraining him, “not to hurt him.” Sanchez changed her story in court, testifying that Neely’s verbal threats were not actually directed at anyone in particular and that Penny’s chokehold was clearly “too tight.” The defense attorney asked Sánchez about this discrepancy: “You met with these prosecutors, what would you say here?” Sanchez nodded.

Fortunately, Sanchez’s 911 call was able to be played to the jury as a recording of her untrained thoughts. The point is that Sanchez, an eighteen-year-old girl, was able to decide which side she wanted to support with her testimony. Ahead of their November 7 statement, the prosecution appeared to be the winning team.

No longer. One of the most outrageous moments of the trial occurred when Judge Maxwell Wiley instructed the jury to consider the second count against Penny (involuntary manslaughter, maximum sentence of four years) after they had declared themselves deadlocked on the first count (manslaughter, maximum sentence of fifteen years). ). This appeared to be a way to pressure the jury to at least return a conviction, even though the prosecution had failed to state its case while the judge should have declared a mistrial, as Penny’s lawyers requested.

Whatever the reasoning, the ploy failed. The jury took less time to acquit on the second count than it did to deliberate on the first count, even though logically the second count should have been a closer decision. Without knowing for sure, it looks as if a juror really, really wanted to convict, but then gave up and gave in to the majority when it became clear how long he or she would have to hold out.

That’s what dynamics means. It’s about whose side is confidently getting involved and whose side is starting to question why they should bother.

The waking powers were always less impressive than they appeared. Even among the true believers in the DA’s office, their deep convictions often coalesced into half-forgotten memes. Penny’s defense attorneys tried to argue that Neely suffered from sickle cell anemia, a genetic disorder of the red blood cells that affects nearly one in 10 black Americans. Assistant District Attorney Dafna Yoran objected angrily: “Isn’t it a fact that sickle cell was used to cover up the deaths of African Americans in custody?”

Apparently in 2021 New York Times wrote a 5,000-word expose on the racist conspiracy that mentioned sickle cell anemia in police medical reports. The ADA believed it could neutralize a legitimate medical point—that disruption of red blood cells can impair oxygen flow—by dismissing it as a racist motive.

This was the entire basis of the prosecution. In its opening statement, the ADA said, “Jordan Neely was homeless and mentally ill. On May 1, 2023, he asked to be seen. He came in. He talked about being hungry.” Only prejudice kept Daniel Penny from recognizing Neely’s true harmlessness, it was said. Only thanks to modern recording technology do we have evidence, in the form of video clips of the encounter and eyewitness statements immediately afterward, that Neely did much more than ask to be seen.

Is the era of Black Lives Matter over? It’s still too early to say for sure. Activists gathered for a press conference after the verdict and threatened retaliation. Neely’s father, who has filed a civil lawsuit against Penny, said: “What are we supposed to do, guys? . . . The system is rigged. Come on, guys. Let’s do something about it.”

Despite their loud speeches, I hardly expect any unrest – but the reason lies more in the internal dynamics of the left. Hamas’ October 7 attacks opened a rift between the Democratic Party’s donors and its activist class. Protests like the ones in 2020 cost money, and the people who funded this summer are less willing to write checks because the recipients of their largesse have, in many cases, applauded the massacre of Israeli civilians. But this rift between the parties could be repaired, and in that case the flow of money to the rioters could get started again. The fact that a silent majority of Americans reject their cause would matter no more than it did the first time.

Nevertheless, Daniel Penny’s acquittal gives cause for cautious optimism. Donald Trump’s presidential victory was a victory for the forces of civilization and a defeat for the forces of chaos and entropy. This is something different.

Helen Andrews is a former senior editor at The American conservative and the author of BOOMERS: The men and women who promised freedom and caused disaster.