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Daniel Penny has been acquitted in the chokehold death of Jordan Neely on a New York subway.

Reactions immediately poured in on Monday as a Manhattan jury found Penny “not guilty” of criminally negligent homicide in the death of Neely, a 30-year-old homeless man who reportedly had a history of mental illness. The jury failed to come to an agreement last week on the charge of manslaughter.

“The anonymous jury, made up of seven women and five men, were told before they began deliberating that they had to come to a unanimous decision on the top charge of manslaughter in the second degree before moving on to consider criminally negligent homicide. But Judge Maxwell Wiley changed that order Friday after jurors twice sent a note saying they could not reach an agreement,” NBC News reported.

In a statement, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg noted the jury’s careful deliberation in the polarizing case in which the former Marine would have faced up to four years in prison if convicted on the criminally negligent homicide charge.

“Their lengthy deliberation – and the totality of the facts and the evidence – underscored why this case was put in front of a jury of Mr. Penny’s peers,” Bragg said in the statement. “The jury has now spoken. At the Manhattan D.A.’s Office, we deeply respect the jury process and we respect their verdict.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis praised the jury for “doing the right thing,” noting that he was “skeptical that a jury in New York City would reach a unanimous not guilty verdict.”

“Meanwhile, is there a worse prosecutor in America than Alvin Bragg?” he added.

“Praise God – NOT GUILTY – SANITY PREVAILED!!!!” Megyn Kelly posted on X.

Many social media reactions noted that the acquittal likely marks “the end of the BLM era.”

Others were relieved and just celebrated the breaking news.

Frieda Powers
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