A New York subway passenger has died after an ex-Marine tackled him and put him in a chokehold until he died was captured on camera, US police have said.
The fight broke out at the Broadway-Lafayette station on Monday afternoon when a 30-year-old man identified by the New York Post as Jordan Neely entered the subway car and started threatening passengers.
Witnesses said he was was acting in a ‘hostile and erratic manner’ before the younger man put him in a headlock and held him there until he was unconscious.
In the clip, the younger man could be seen holding Neely down on the floor of the subway car while he tried to free himself from the headlock, before suddenly going limp.
The Marine was arrested after the fight and Neely was taken to Lenox Hill Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Police the Marine would not be charged in the incident.
The incident happened just before 2:30pm on the northbound F train platform at Broadway-Lafayette station in downtown Manhattan.
The 30-year-old entered the northbound train and reportedly started yelling and throwing garbage at other commuters, prompting an argument with the former Marine, who NY Daily News reported was from Queens.
‘He started screaming in an aggressive manner,’ witness Juan Alberto Vazquez told The Post. ‘He said he had no food, he had no drink, that he was tired and doesn’t care if he goes to jail. He started screaming all these things, took off his jacket, a black jacket that he had, and threw it on the ground.’
The Marine then intervened by putting the other man in a headlock until he was unconscious, police said. When an EMS team boarded the train, which remained at the platform, they were unable to revive him.
Footage from the altercation showed the 24-year-old grappling with the 30-year-old on the floor of the car, while others restrained the man’s arms and legs as he tried to free himself.
At that point an onlooker could be heard asking whether the man was breathing, saying ‘You don’t want to kill him now.’
One of the people holding the man’s arms down replied ‘It’s alright, he’s not squeezing him now.’
Police have chosen not to identify the 24-year-old man, who was released without charges Tuesday.
According to the city’s medical examiner, Jordan Neely, 30, died from compression of the neck.
Neely was homeless and had mental health issues, according to the Post.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office said it is investigating.
After the incident, protesters gathered in the station where Neely died to call for an arrest. Kyle Ishmael, a 38-year-old Harlem resident, said the video of the incident left him feeling “disgusted”.
“I couldn’t believe this was happening on my subway in my city that I grew up in,” he said.
The freelance journalist who recorded the incident, Juan Alberto Vazquez, said Neely did not physically attack anyone and that the Marine veteran approached him after he threw his jacket to the ground.
Dave Giffen, the executive director at Coalition for the Homeless, said: “The fact that someone who took the life of a distressed, mentally ill human being on a subway could be set free without facing any consequences is shocking,” he said. “This is an absolute travesty that must be investigated immediately.”
Watch Video Below:
Man who harassed subway passengers dies after former Marine puts him in a chokehold, NYPD says
The 24-year-old was questioned by the NYPD and released without charges.https://t.co/mIKiMU61Cc pic.twitter.com/s3kKX0YIYo
— Francesco (@Frances89805199) May 3, 2023
