Professional golfer Phil Mickelson recently praised Daniel Penny on social media for protecting and serving the country, not only through his military service but also through his bravery in stepping up and defending innocent women and children on the New York City subway from a “violent and deranged individual.” Penny has been on trial for the death of Jordan Neely, whom he restrained after the homeless man was threatening passengers.
After Penny restrained Neely, who was reportedly schizophrenic, he later died. Subsequently, second-degree murder charges were brought against Penny, which carry a maximum sentence of 15 years. However, after the jury was deadlocked on the charge, Assistant Manhattan District Attorney Dafna Yoran asked for it to be dropped. Penny was also found not guilty of a lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide.
Mickelson’s comments came in response to a post from conservative commentator Collin Rugg, who wrote, “Daniel Penny is a model citizen who should be praised by the city of New York. He is a breed of young men who are becoming less and less common. He puts his own safety at risk to help others. He didn’t cower or pull out his phone to film when Jordan Neely started threatening to k*ll people. Instead, he took it upon himself to protect subway passengers.”
Rugg continued in his praise of Penny’s character, writing, “He was praised by the passengers on the train but was ridiculed by the city of New York. He is the citizen that every mayor of every city should want more of. He is the person you hope is around if your loved ones’ lives are being threatened. Anyone who is quiet about this injustice lacks moral clarity and should take a long look in the mirror.”
Responding to the post, Mickelson commented, “Agree. Thank you Daniel for serving your country and for protecting the many passengers whose lives were threatened by this violent and deranged individual.” Mickelson received immense praise from other users on social media, where one person wrote, “Was not expecting that but maybe, finally, WE THE PEOPLE have found our voice again. Thank you sir.”
In his post, Rugg shared a clip of Penny’s testimony recounting the incident on the subway. “I got out of class around 215 I took the J Street. I was at J Street Metro Tech took the Uptown half train at Second Avenue. Man came on, stumbled on. He was, appeared to be on drugs. The doors closed, and he ripped his jacket off and threw it at the people sitting down to my left. I was listening to music at the time he was yelling, so I took my headphones out to hear what he was yelling, and the three main threats that he repeated over and over was, ‘I’m going to kill you. I’m prepared to go to jail for life, and I’m willing to die.'”
Penny continued, “You know, this is a this was a scary situation. And Mr. Neely came on. He was, he was threatening, I’m six two, and he was taller than me. So it was, there’s a common misconception that Marines don’t get scared, or actually taught one of our core values is courage and courage … courage is not the absence of fear but how you handle fear. You know, I was scared for myself, when I looked around I saw women and children. He was yelling in their faces. Say, saying these threats.”
Watch New York City Mayor Eric Adams below:
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