Chokehold killed man restrained by NYC Subway passengers
Jordan Neely died on a New York subway train after a fellow rider put him in a chokehold that lasted until his body went limp, according to police officials and a video of the incident.
www.cbsnews.com
This is surely to become a highly controversial and likely politicalized case. It seems the two camps in the immediate aftermath have taken their predicable stances despite very little details on how this incident unfolded.
I’m not going to make any snap judgements until we know the full details. From what I understand however, Jordan Neely, the homeless man killed, allegedly very much frighted passengers on the train but never actually harmed anyone. But details are sparse and inaccuracies have already been reported.
I suspect that the Marine who subdued and subsequently killed Neely did not intend to murder anyone but think it’s highly possible he unnecessarily inserted himself into a situation failing to consider what it could escalate to. And in that case he should absolutely held accountable. Maybe he wanted to be a hero or maybe he had mental health issues of his own (ie PTSD). He probably thought he was doing the right thing.
This does however highlight the intertwined homelessness and mental health issue in our country. It’s completely unacceptable how our society and government have decided to deal with population. With a system designed for failure, such outcomes should be no surprise.
I would be remiss to say I find some of the politicians who are standing up for Neely as a victim as… almost disgraceful. Neely very well be a victim of wrongful homicide but he is also the victim of a broken government system that so easily allows for an environment for things like this to happen. A system they are responsible for- or at least responsible for improving. I suspect they didn’t have much concern for Neely or people like him before he died. We shouldn’t only care about this population when they are wrongfully killed.
