The jury in Daniel Penny’s trial found him not guilty Monday of involuntary manslaughter in the subway chokehold of Jordan Neely.

The jury deliberated for more than 24 hours over five days before reaching their verdict. Judge Maxwell Wiley dismissed a more serious charge of second-degree manslaughter on Dec. 6 at the prosecution’s request after jurors said they were deadlocked.

Neely’s father, Andre Zachery, was present in the courtroom when the verdict was announced and he was forcibly removed by a court officer after cursing in anger.

He also filed a civil lawsuit against Penny last week, seeking damages “in such amount as a jury may consider reasonable, fair and just.”

Zachery and his attorney, Donte Mills, spoke with ABC News’ Linsey Davis after Monday’s sentencing.

ABC NEWS: Let’s bring in Jordan Neely’s father Andre Zachery and his attorney Donte Mills. Thank you for joining us on what we know was a very difficult day.

Mr. Zachery, let’s start with you. Apparently you were visibly upset in court today. What exactly was going through your mind? What did you feel when you heard the acquittal?

ZACHERY: It hurt me. Very hurt. I just didn’t know what to say at the time. But it hurt me to the core to hear something like that.

ABC NEWS: Was there a time when you thought this might be the result?

ZACHERY: I mean, it shouldn’t be a surprise. Here we are.

ABC NEWS: You said the system was rigged. What? What did you mean by that? And how would…

ZACHERY: I mean, it’s been that way for a long time. And that the system could be manipulated the way it is.

ABC NEWS: And what do you mean by that? Racially?

ZACHERY: It can be in many different ways. But I’m not saying racist, but it could be the case in many ways.

MILLS: And we don’t want to do that – it’s not a black and white problem. It’s about making everyone count. There are some people who look at this and say, “Jordan was homeless.” He had mental health issues, almost like he deserved that to happen to him. And there are no concerns. We all have problems.

And even with Andre, there were times when he could have been there more for Jordan. That’s understandable. That doesn’t mean Jordan deserved what happened to him, or that you can just strangle someone and not be held responsible. We want people to understand that.

This is not a white or black thing. We all are. We all have the right to speak up when we feel that something is being heard, and that someone will be held accountable if they harm us when they shouldn’t.

ABC NEWS: You said earlier today that you went to see the family and told them you wanted justice. Now you’re going to sue in civil court. But you just started the civil lawsuit last week. Give us a sense of the timing of this and whether you think you could find justice there.

MILLS: We will. I’m telling you, we will do it. The time has come, we have started the lawsuit. Not immediately. We wanted to see what the evidence was and what the defense would be. And when we heard all the evidence in court, we started the civil case and filed the lawsuit.

It will take some time. It might take a year or two, but we will not stop until we get justice because that is what our system demands. We are not in a rebellion at the moment. We follow the rules of our legal system. If you believe someone killed someone when they shouldn’t have, we have the right to file a wrongful death lawsuit. We did that.

ABC NEWS: From a legal perspective. What aspect of this do you think the jury didn’t take into account?

MILLS: That Jordan was human? This is the only way to look at the situation and say that he does not deserve the justice that we demanded from the criminal side. If you don’t think he was valuable enough for that, all you can say is this: Jordan was scary. He kept coming. He scared some people on the train. That could be true.

But at some point you have to be human and have humanity and say Daniel could have let Penny go before Jordan died. He continued to choke him for 50 seconds after he was lifeless. He continued to choke. And there is no reason for it. And there is no reason for a jury to say that this was not criminal conduct. It is.

ABC NEWS: Mr. Zachery, tell us about your son. What do you miss most about him?

ZACHERY: Well, I miss his voice. I miss being around him. I miss him dancing.

ABC NEWS: If you could speak to Daniel Penny directly, what would you say?

ZACHERY: Why didn’t you say you were sorry, man? Come on, man. Why didn’t you say anything?

ABC NEWS: Would that have mattered?

ZACHERY: It certainly would have been.

ABC NEWS: Mr. Zachery, I’m sure it’s not the same, but we want to tell you that we are sorry for the loss of your son. And we thank you both so much for taking the time to come and talk to us today.

MILLS: Thank you.

ZACHERY: Thank you.