Daniel Penny and two of his lawyers received awards for representing the Marine Corps spirit in a ceremony at the Massachusetts State House.

The White former Marine restrained Jordan Neely in a combatives hold to stop his threatening outbursts on a New York City subway train in 2023. Neely, a homeless Black man with a lengthy record, died and Mr. Penny was tried on multiple homicide charges, but he was acquitted.

Mr. Penny received a Semper Fidelis Achievement Award from the Marine Corps League at the State House in Boston this week during a commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the start of the Battle of Iwo Jima.

Attorneys Thomas Kenniff and Steven Raiser also received an appreciation award from the MCL, a congressionally chartered veterans service group.

Mr. Kenniff posted a photo of the event on X.

The award is meant for “worthy and inspirational recipients,” event organizer John MacGillivray told the New York Post, adding that “we believe that Daniel Penny and attorneys Raiser and Kenniff deserve such recognition.”

He did acknowledge the pushback and controversy surrounding the Penny case.

“There has been pushback from a few people. But from my point of view, and the view of many others, what he did was defend people who couldn’t defend themselves,” event organizer John MacGillivray told the Boston Globe about his decision to award Mr. Penny.

Mr. Raiser, the ex-Marine’s attorney, told the New York Post that the MCL “honored Danny for representing the Esprit de Corps of the Marines, defined by selfless service and sacrifice, when he risked his life by defending the people on that NYC train and we in turn successfully defended Danny from a prosecution that never should have been sought.”

• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.