This is sick, sad, and infuriating.
A Black man was killed aboard a New York City subway train by a white man who thought himself some sort of hero. According to the NBC New York, 30-year-old Jordan Neely was put in a chokehold and strangled to death for 15 minutes by a yet-to-be identified 24-year-old who is described as a “Marine”. Witnesses say that Neely boarded the F train yesterday afternoon and began yelling and talking aggressively
“The man got on the subway car and began to say a somewhat aggressive speech, saying he was hungry, he was thirsty, that he didn’t care about anything, he didn’t care about going to jail, he didn’t care that he gets a big life sentence,” said Juan Alberto Vazquez, who was in the subway car and recording part of what happened afterward. “That ‘It doesn’t even matter if I died.’”
After a period of time, the unnamed 24-year-old approached Neely from behind and applied the chokehold despite that fact that Neely didn’t attack or make physical contact with anyone during his rant.
Below is a video of the incident taken by Vazquez. It can be very disturbing to see and advise that you take stock of your mental health prior to pressing play.
NYC: A homeless black man Jordan Neely,30. Was screaming that he was hungry,had no food,threw his jacket down on the train. The blonde guy decided to choke him for 15 mins-for no reason,EMS could not revive Neely. No charges have been filed. This is MURDER . pic.twitter.com/hWA9Kri7Fl
— نصر الله (@DrNasrAzUllah) May 3, 2023
The NYPD took the vigilante passenger in for questioning but he was released without charges as the investigation allegedly continues. When contacted by the NYPost, the man said, “I am not interested in answering any questions, thank you.”
As for Vazquez, he now says that he has mixed feelings about what he witnessed…
“I think that in one sense it’s fine that citizens want to jump in and help. But I think as heroes we have to use moderation,” he said.
“This would never have happened if the police had shown up within five minutes,” he added. “Then we’d be talking about a true hero. It’s complicated.”
And that’s the problem right there, heroism. People get on the NYC subway and make a ruckus all the time and we have no doubt that people aboard the train were afraid or uncomfortable, however, you can’t just kill someone because you’re scared. That’s not how self-defense works.
