VICTOR JOECKS: NYC puts Batman on trial

In the movies, Batman is a hero for stopping the criminals threatening the people of Gotham City. Daniel Penny is on trial for stopping a criminal threatening the people of New York City. It doesn’t get much more backward than this.

On Monday, jury selection began in Penny’s trial. Prosecutors have charged him with second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in the death of Jordan Neely.

In May 2023, Penny encountered Neely on a NYC subway. Neely was acting erratically and threatening passengers. Witnesses have testified that Neely said, “Someone is going to die today.”

That was no idle threat. Filemon Castillo Baltazar said Neely punched him in the face while he waited on a NYC subway platform in 2019. Two years later, police arrested Neely for smacking a 67-year-old woman in the face. Court documents say he broke her nose and orbital bone. She also had “substantial” head pain. In all, Neely had more than 40 arrests, including an active warrant for that 2021 assault.

Put yourself in their shoes. You’re trapped on a subway car with a madman who’s threatening to murder someone. According to grand jury testimony, one subway rider believed he or she was “going to die” based on Neely’s behavior. A mother hid herself and her son behind a stroller. Passengers called 911.

There’s nowhere to run. There’s no place to hide. Most people can’t fight back successfully. This is when you wish superheroes were real. You need Batman to sweep in and save the day.

That’s what Penny did, sans the cape. Risking his own life, the former Marine put Neely into a submission hold. Two other passengers helped Penny restrain Neely as he continued to resist. After Neely went limp, Penny helped put him in the recovery position.

Sadly, Neely passed away. The NYC medical examiner said he died from the compression of his neck. Neely also had K2, a synthetic cannabinoid, in his system. It can cause violent outbursts and lead to seizures and death.

This confrontation wouldn’t have been national news except for two things. One, a passenger recorded some of it. Two, Neely was Black while Penny is white.

Leftists quickly demanded that Penny be charged.

“Jordan Neely was murdered,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted at the time. She called it “disgusting” that “the murderer gets protected with passive headlines plus no charges.”

That’s right. Police didn’t immediately arrest Penny. That makes sense because he clearly acted in self-defense. But the left kept ramping up the pressure.

“Black people just don’t have to worry about being strangled by police, but by a regular citizen feeling empowered and supported by elected officials,” Rashad Robinson, president of Color of Change, said in May 2023.

This is crazy. Black people don’t have to worry about being strangled by “regular” citizens. People who physically threaten others do — regardless of their skin color.

Eventually, NYC officials gave in to the mob. Prosecutors knew they couldn’t make a murder charge stick. Penny didn’t intentionally try to kill anyway. These lesser charges contend that Penny either acted recklessly or failed “to perceive a substantial and unjustifiable risk.”

Notice the double standard. Leftists don’t want Neely held responsible for what happened after he recklessly threatened people. But they do want Penny held responsible for — after risking his own life — supposedly holding a submission hold a few seconds too long.

A healthy society would laud Penny as a hero. That praise would inspire other men to intervene in violent situations. Their actions and locking up the criminals would then reduce subway crime.

Instead, NYC wants to send Penny to jail, potentially for more than a decade. In superhero terms, they’re trying to jail Batman for stopping the Joker. What a travesty.

Victor Joecks’ column appears in the Opinion section each Sunday, Wednesday and Friday. Contact him at vjoecks@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4698. Follow @victorjoecks on X.