By JAKE OFFENHARTZ and MICHAEL R. SISAK
A judge authorized Penny’s release on bond and ordered him to surrender his passport and not to leave New York without approval. Prosecutors said they are seeking a grand jury indictment. Penny is due back in court on July 17. Penny’s lawyers have said he was acting in self-defense when he pinned Neely to the floor of the subway car with the help of two other passengers and held him in a chokehold for several minutes.
Thomas Kenniff, one of Penny’s attorneys, said the veteran didn’t mean to harm Neely and “is dealing with the situation, like I said, with the sort of integrity and honor that is characteristic of who he is and characteristic of his honorable service in the United States Marine Corps.”“There was no attack,” Mills said at a news conference Friday. “Mr. Neely did not attack anyone. He did not touch anyone. He did not hit anyone. But he was choked to death.
“No one on that train asked Jordan: ‘What’s wrong, how can I help you?’” Mills said, urging New Yorkers in a similar situation: “Don’t attack. Don’t choke. Don’t kill. Don’t take someone’s life. Don’t take someone’s loved one from them because they’re in a bad place.”