FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) 鈥� , a military veteran who choked an agitated New York subway rider and was acquitted of homicide this week, has been invited by Vice President-elect JD Vance to join Donald Trump's suite at the Army-Navy football game on Saturday.
The Marine veteran was cleared of criminally negligent homicide in 鈥檚 2023 death. A more serious manslaughter charge was dismissed last week.
Vance said Penny, 26, accepted his invitation to join the president-elect and him at the game.
鈥淒aniel鈥檚 a good guy, and New York鈥檚 mob district attorney tried to ruin his life for having a backbone,鈥� Vance said in a post on X. 鈥淚鈥檓 grateful he accepted my invitation and hope he鈥檚 able to have fun and appreciate how much his fellow citizens admire his courage.鈥�
The case sparked national debate, with some hailing Penny as a hero for attempting to subdue a man he considered a menace to public safety and others seeing him as a white vigilante who choked a Black man to death.
Political figures on the right have defended Penny since he was charged for the death in May 2023. Entrepreneur , who ran for the GOP presidential nomination and was tapped by Trump last month to lead an effort along with billionaire Elon Musk to cut government spending, donated money to his legal defense fund.
After the acquittal, Penny gave an extensive interview to Fox News and declared he鈥檚 鈥渘ot a confrontational person.鈥� He told the network that he wouldn鈥檛 have been able to live with 鈥渢he guilt I would have felt if someone did get hurt, if he did do what he was threatening to do.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檒l take a million court appearances and people calling me names and people hating me, just to keep one of those people from getting hurt or killed,鈥� Penny said.
Trump has not referred to the case publicly recently, but last year he told The Messenger that he thought Penny and other people on the subway were 鈥渋n great danger.鈥�
Some New Yorkers protested the trial outcome this week, holding signs and chanting Jordan Neely鈥檚 name in a Manhattan square.
Vance, who served in the Marine Corps, including in Iraq, said this week that "justice was done in this case鈥� and Penny never should have been prosecuted.
Penny has been hailed a hero by many, but Neely's death also divided the city as residents grapple with how to respond to mental health crises threatening public safety.
Passengers said Neely hadn鈥檛 touched anyone but had expressed willingness to die, go to jail or even to kill. The former street performer was homeless, had schizophrenia and had synthetic marijuana in his system. He had been convicted of assaulting people at subway stations.
Adriana Gomez Licon, The Associated Press
