05 May 2023 - Killing of homeless man Jordan Neely in New York subway
A Subway Killing Stuns, and Divides, New Yorkers
Emma G. Fitzsimmons and Maria Cramer (The New York Times, 04/05/2023)
Almost as soon as the video of one subway rider choking another to death began to ricochet across the internet, the killing came to signify more than the tragic death of one man.
For many New Yorkers, the choking of the 30-year-old homeless man, Jordan Neely, was a heinous act of public violence to be swiftly prosecuted, and represented a failure by the city to care for people with serious mental illness. Many others who lamented the killing nonetheless saw it as a reaction to fears about public safety in New York and the subway system in particular.
Protesters Continue to Call for Justice for Jordan Neely, Killed in Subway Chokehold
(NBC News, 05/05/2023)
There is a growing divide in NYC over the subway chokehold death of Jordan Neely by another rider, as investigators work to answer the question: Was is self-defense, or murder?
Jordan Neely’s Death and a Critical Moment in the Homelessness Crisis
Jay Caspian Kang (The New Yorker, 04/05/2023)
These days, online outrage is largely an exercise in film study and pattern recognition. Earlier this week, a video made its way around the press and social media, showing the death of Jordan Neely, a thirty-year-old homeless street performer, on Monday, at the hands of a man whom the New York Post described as “blond” and a “Marine veteran.” The footage, which shows Neely losing consciousness in a prolonged choke hold and then flopping lifeless on the floor of a subway car, is horrifying, but it should not be seen as extraordinary or unusual
What happened to Jordan Neely is a city’s failure to police subways and treat mentally ill
Douglas Murray (New York Post, 04/05/2023)
Before going any further let’s just say what every New Yorker knows. The city’s subway is unsafe. Every New Yorker knows it. Every New Yorker talks about it. Everyone has a story about it.
Those who are able to find other routes around the city do. Most women I know won’t use it after dark. And even in the middle of the day you see sights that just aren’t normal. But they’ve become normal here. We just got used to it.