No – that’s not it works.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul rejected preemptively pardoning Daniel Penny for allegedly choking to death Jordan Neely on a city subway on Wednesday ahead of an expected trial on manslaughter charges.
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said Tuesday Hochul ought to make that move following a similar move made by Texas Gov. Greg Abbot in a case involving another alleged vigilante.
“I would think a former governor would know how a pardon works. It works after someone’s been convicted of a crime. You don’t pardon after there’s just been an indictment number one, so wrong on that front,” Hochul told NY1 on Wednesday.
Hochul also suggested Penny ought to pay for Neely’s death following an altercation.
“Secondly, let the process play out. The district attorney indicted after serious deliberation, looking at the facts, witnesses the video, and my view is that this individual who was killed on the subway had mental health challenges and deserved to walk off that subway alive.”
Penny, 24, has become a cause célèbre for the political right after confronting Neely after he began shouting and acting erratically on a Manhattan F Trian on May 1, but others say he ought to pay for Neely’s death if a jury convicts him for manslaughter.
The situation quickly escalated and Penny, who formerly served in the Marine Corps, placed Neely in a chokehold before the longtime homeless man died, which the city medical declared a homicide.
“Military members, they are trained to defend and protect. That’s what he was trying to do,” Haley told WABC on Tuesday.
“I actually don’t think we need to just get behind Penny. I think we need to tell the governor she needs to pardon him. We need to pardon him because what he was doing was trying to protect other Americans.”
Abbot has vowed to pardon former Army Sgt. Daniel Perry, 35, after he was convicted for fatally shooting a protester at a 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in Austin, Texas.
Who was Neely?
Jordan Neely, 30, a homeless man, was strangled aboard a northbound F train just before 2:30 p.m. May 1, according to police.
He reportedly started acting erratically on the train and harassing other passengers before being restrained and ultimately choked by a straphanger, identified as Daniel Penny, a 24-year-old former Marine from Queens.
Penny, who was seen on video applying the chokehold, was taken into custody and later released. He was eventually charged with second-degree manslaughter.
Why is there fallout over Neely’s death?
The city medical examiner ruled Neely’s death a homicide, noting he died due to “compression of neck (chokehold).”
Neely’s aunt told The Post that he became a “complete mess” following the brutal murder of his mother in 2007. She noted he was schizophrenic and suffered from PTSD and depression.
“The whole system just failed him. He fell through the cracks of the system,” Carolyn Neely said.
Who is Penny?
24-year-old former Marine Daniel Penny served as an infantry squad leader and an instructor in water survival while in the Marines Corps from 2017 to 2021, according to his online resume. Penny graduated from high school in West Islip, NY.
He surrendered to authorities 11 days after he placed Neely in a fatal chokehold on an F train.
Outrage erupted following Neely’s death with lefty pols like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-Queens) saying Penny ought to be charged with “murder.”
Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams also faced criticism over their response to the incident, with both leaders urging New Yorkers to let the legal process continue.
Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg ultimately charged Penny with second-degree manslaughter.
Penny is scheduled to return to court on July 17 after being released on $100,000 bail.