Homeless Man Dies After Being Choked on New York Subway

The American city of New York is outraged by the death of homeless man Jordan Neely (30). He died on Monday when he had a mental breakdown in a subway car, and another passenger held him in a stranglehold for several minutes.

 

Jordan Neely, 30, was homeless and made money by impersonating Michael Jackson in Times Square. On Monday, he took the subway and yelled at passengers. He cried that he was hungry and thirsty. Journalist Juan Alberto Vazquez reports to The New York Times that Neely said in the vehicle that he wouldn’t mind a life sentence and was ready to die. A 24-year-old former marine then approached the man to calm him down.

A video that lasts four minutes shows Neely lying on the ground while the former Marine has his left arm around his neck. A second man holds his arms and a third man his shoulder. He tries to free himself for a moment but eventually relaxes. The man is already unconscious when the subway stops at the Broadway-Lafayette stop. Moments later, he is pronounced dead at the hospital.

The former Marine was questioned by the police and was released on Monday evening. Manhattan police and prosecutors say they are investigating Neely’s death. New York City Mayor Eric Adams called the death tragic. “But there’s a lot we don’t know yet,” he says. “However, we do know that serious mental problems were involved.”

New Yorkers are very outraged by this. Neely was mentally ill. “People who are homeless, mentally ill and hungry deserve compassion and care,” New York City Councilman Tiffany Cabán said on Twitter. “Politicians and media have instead said that people like that threaten us. The murder of Jordan Neely is the inevitable result of that.”

Also, people are angry because Neely is a black man, while the former Marine is white. They demonstrate at the Broadway-Lafayette station. “They kept him in a stranglehold for a very long time. You can only do that from behind,” King James told The Guardian. “The white man did this to the homeless man out of aggression, and Neely had no chance to defend himself.” Activist Alice O’Malley also reacts indignantly to the long stranglehold against The Guardian: “He was weak and said he hadn’t eaten or drunk. Will you tell me they couldn’t keep him down until the next stop?”