Daniel Penny stoic on first day in court as prosecution and defense present very different versions of F train subway death

Daniel Penny walked into a Manhattan courtroom, shoulders back and stoic, already having endured a crowd of BLM protesters outside of the buildlng.And yet from the 13th floor courtroom, which was packed with reporters and supporters of Jordan Neely, the noise from street level was still audible.The commotion below underscored the fraught nature of this case, which has exposed the lunacy of our ultra progressive, soft on crime prosecutor Alvin Bragg, letting mentally ill, violent criminals roam free while the good people of Gotham are left to brave this gauntlet.Unfortunately for Penny, he stepped up to be a helper.

A defender.For for his samaritan act, the former Marine, who is white was smeared as a racist vigilante, a “subway strangler” and is facing second degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide for the death of Neely, a mentally ill, homeless man and street performer, who was threatening straphangers.

Penny put an unarmed Neely, who was black, in a chokehold which the medical examiner said killed him.Now he faces up to 15 years in prison.“This man, took it upon himself to take down Jordan Neely.To neutralize him,” prosecutor Dafna Yoran told jurors of Penny during opening statements Friday.The two sides presenting vastly different pictures of what transpired during the chokehold.

Yoran argued the Marine veteran was specifically trained in chokeholds.He understood their potency.

He “went too far” – and was criminally negligent.She further added that Penny – trained in CPR – didn’t attempt to revive Neely, but instead grabbed his hat that had fallen of his head, dusted himself off and waited for police.

The line drew gasps from Neely’s supporters.“Jordan Neely took his last breaths on the dirty floor of an uptown F train – at the time he died he was 30 years old, homeless, on synthetic drugs, and suffering from mental illness,” she said.“We pass people like Jordan Neely everyday … as New Yorkers we train oursel...