FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Daniel Penny, a military veteran who choked an agitated New York City subway rider and was acquitted of murder this week, was invited by Vice President-elect JD Vance to Donald Trump’s suite in the Army building to connect. Navy football game on Saturday.

The Marine veteran was acquitted of involuntary manslaughter in Jordan Neely’s death in 2023. A more serious charge of involuntary manslaughter was dismissed last week.

Vance said Penny, 26, accepted his invitation to attend the game with the president-elect and him.

“Daniel is a good guy and the New York Mafia District Attorney tried to ruin his life because he has a backbone,” Vance said in a post on X. “I am grateful that he accepted my invitation and hope “That he will have fun and appreciate it.” His fellow citizens greatly admire his courage.”

The case sparked a national debate, with some hailing Penny as a hero for trying to subdue a man they saw as a threat to public safety, while others viewed him as a white vigilante who strangled a black man.

Political figures on the right have defended Penny since he was charged in the May 2023 death. Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who ran for the GOP presidential nomination and was tapped by Trump last month to lead an initiative to cut government spending alongside billionaire Elon Musk, donated money to his legal defense fund.

After the acquittal, Penny gave an extensive interview to Fox News and said he was “not a confrontational person.” He told the station that he couldn’t have lived with “the guilt I would have felt if someone had gotten hurt if he had done what he threatened to do.”

“I’m going to put up with a million court appearances and people calling me names and people hating me just to keep one of these people from getting hurt or killed,” Penny said.

Trump hasn’t mentioned the case publicly recently, but last year he told The Messenger he believed Penny and other people on the subway were “in grave danger.”

Some New Yorkers protested the outcome of the trial this week, holding signs and chanting Jordan Neely’s name in a Manhattan square.

Vance, who served in the Marine Corps, including in Iraq, said this week that “justice has prevailed in this case” and that Penny should never have been prosecuted.

Penny was hailed as a hero by many, but Neely’s death also divided the city as residents wrestle with how to respond to mental health crises that threaten public safety.

Passengers said Neely didn’t touch anyone but expressed her willingness to die, go to prison or even kill. The former street artist was homeless, suffered from schizophrenia and had synthetic marijuana in his system. He was convicted of assaulting people in subway stations.