Batman is a hero for stopping the criminals threatening the people of Gotham City. Daniel Penny is on trial for stopping a criminal threatening the people of New York City. It doesn’t get much more backward than this.
On Monday, jury selection began in Penny’s trial. Prosecutors have charged him with second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in the death of Jordan Neely.
In May 2023, Penny encountered Neely on a NYC subway. Neely was acting erratically and threatening passengers. Witnesses have testified that Neely said, “Someone is going to die today.”
That was no idle threat. Filemon Castillo Baltazar said Neely punched him in the face while he waited on an NYC subway platform in 2019. Two years later, police arrested Neely for smacking a 67-year-old woman in the face. Court documents say he broke her nose and orbital bone. She also had “substantial” head pain. In all, Neely had more than 40 arrests, including an active warrant for that 2021 assault.
Put........