I hope the Daniel Penny indictment won’t stop good Samaritans
When I moved from suburbia to New York City at 18, my parents were concerned for my security.
“Don’t worry,” I assured them. “There’s safety in numbers.”
Even as a young woman on my own, I felt confident when out and about. I operated under the assumption that, if something were to happen, a good Samaritan would step up and help me out.
But that’s something I question now more than ever in the wake of the aftermath of Jordan Neely’s death.
Neely, who reportedly had a history of psychosis, was fatally choked by former Marine Daniel Penny during a May 1 subway confrontation. Penny has been charged with second-degree manslaughter and was indicted by a grand jury Wednesday.
In a video statement released this week, Penny alleged that Neely had threatened to kill passengers and proclaimed that he was willing to go to prison or to die.
“I was scared for myself, but I looked around, and I saw women and children. He was yelling in their faces saying these threats,” claimed Penny. “I knew I had to act.”
Right now, the story of what transpired on that F train car that day is far from complete. And yet the social media mob immediately rushed to condemn Penny as a vigilante and even a white supremacist.
Since the Twitter court doesn’t uphold due process, I’m withholding judgement until Penny has his day in an actual court.
Regardless of the outcome, Jordan Neely — a young man who weathered tragedy and was egregiously failed by the system — should not have died that day.
But looking less at the particulars and more at the potential precedent leaves me wondering: The next time a bystander considers stepping in to defend another New Yorker, will this change their calculus?
My parents were right to be fearful. Since moving here, I’ve stumbled into my fair share of scary situations. Thankfully, for the most part, my neighbors stepped up to the plate.
Once, as a man began screaming at me and acting erratically on a subway platform, a bystander rushed to my side and walked me out of the station to safety. Another time, when a strange man chased me into traffic and slapped my rear, a dog walker came running down the street and offered to call the police (and then offered a hug when I declined).
But one encounter last May shook my confidence.
When a disturbed man chased me into a crowded pharmacy in Union Square — shouting obscenities and threatening to rape me — I thought I’d find safety in numbers among the roughly two dozen people in the store.
As the ranting, raving stranger blocked the exit and headed towards me, I desperately tried to make eye contact with someone. But everyone in the store — patrons, employees, even a uniformed security guard — averted their eyes and kept to themselves. Thankfully, I was able to dart past him after brandishing pepper spray.
What scared me more than the encounter itself was the lack of willingness to help.
Now, after Neely’s tragic and undoubtedly tragic and controversial death, I fear even more bystanders will choose to look away when someone is in need.
I don’t blame New Yorkers for thinking twice before getting involved. Not only could the perpetrator be armed, not only could they be putting their own lives at risk, but they could have their name tarnished and life ruined if they go viral.
Some 70% of New Yorkers feel less safe today than they did pre-pandemic, yet the NYPD is suffering staffing shortages. That means many New Yorkers will count on good Samaritans to keep them safe when there isn’t a cop on the corner or the subway.
Penny’s fate and culpability is up to the law to decide. But I hope it won’t determine whether someone else gets involved in other situations.
I don’t want to live in a city of vigilante justice. I do want to live in a city where civilians who protect others feel confident in doing the right thing. They should feel certain that, if the facts are on their side, they will emerge a hero.
