NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 The choking death of a man at the hands of another New York subway rider was setting off powerful reactions Thursday, with some calling it a criminal, racist act even as authorities reserved judgment on the killing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
New York has become one of the nation\u2019s safest large cities, but the emotional responses recalled the metropolis of decades ago, when residents felt besieged by crime and fatal vigilantism made national headlines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Manhattan prosecutors promised a \u201crigorous\u201d investigation into whether to bring charges in the death of Jordan Neely, a Black man who was tackled by fellow passengers and put in the chokehold by a white Marine veteran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The medical examiner\u2019s office ruled Wednesday night that Neely, 30, died in a homicide caused by compression of the neck, but it said any determination about criminal culpability would be left to the legal system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Regardless, many New Yorkers saw the choking as the latest in a long history of attacks on Black city residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re like animals in white people\u2019s backyards. They want to get rid of us,\u201d said Diango Cici, a 53-year-old Manhattan resident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Neely, who in the past had earned money imitating Michael Jackson, died Monday after the early-afternoon confrontation aboard a train beneath Manhattan. Neely, who had been homeless at times, according to people who knew him, was shouting at fellow passengers when another rider wrapped his arm around his neck and pinned him on the floor. Two other passengers also helped restrain Neely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Marine recruits are routinely taught about executing and defending against chokeholds, which can render someone unconscious in as few as eight seconds, according to a military manual revised in 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The lethal risks of chokeholds led New York City to ban police from using them. An officer was fired for using a chokehold on Eric Garner, a Black New Yorker whose dying words \u201cI can\u2019t breathe\u201d became a chant in protests against racial injustice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A U.S. Department of Justice website called chokeholds \u201cinherently dangerous\u201d and said that they have \u201ctoo often led to tragedy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No one has been arrested, but the Manhattan district attorney\u2019s office said late Wednesday it would review autopsy reports, as well as \u201cassess all available video and photo footage, identify and interview as many witnesses as possible, and obtain additional medical records.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Police questioned the 24-year-old whom the video showed holding Neely in a headlock for at least 3 minutes \u2014 perhaps longer \u2014 but released him without charges. His name was not released by police, but his relationship with the Marines was disclosed by a law enforcement official who wasn\u2019t authorized to make the information public and spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was not yet complete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was not clear why passengers moved to restrain Neely. One witness, a freelance journalist who was on the train and recorded Neely becoming unconscious as he was restrained, said that while Neely was acting aggressively and threw his jacket, he hadn\u2019t attacked anyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Police asked other witnesses to come forward and sought additional photos and videos that might help investigators understand what transpired during the fatal confrontation or what triggered it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the absence of video showing what happened before the chokehold, many were reserving judgment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Among them was Mayor Eric Adams, who said Thursday that there were \u201cmany layers\u201d to the incident. He rejected criticism that he has not expressed enough outrage over Neely\u2019s death, unlike other officials who have called for a quick arrest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAll the other electeds, they have a role to play and I have a role to play. The police is doing their investigation and the district attorney is doing his investigation, and I respect the process,\u201d Adams said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Governor Kathy Hochul called the video-recorded encounter \u201cwrong\u201d and \u201chorrific to view,\u201d adding that Neely\u2019s \u201cfamily deserves justice.\u201d But the governor said she was watching how the matter unfolds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo one has the right to take the life of another person. And in this circumstance, I have said all along and have stood firm in our commitment to helping people with mental health challenges,\u201d Hochul told reporters after a meeting with union workers in Manhattan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She said sometimes people are loud and emotional in public, but it was \u201cvery clear\u201d that Neely was not going to harm others and the video showed a \u201cvery extreme response.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dozens of people gathered Thursday night in Brooklyn\u2019s Barclay Center for a second day of demonstrations. On Wednesday a few dozen protesters gathered at the station where Neely died to call for an arrest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kyle Ishmael, a 38-year-old Harlem resident, said the video left him \u201cdisgusted.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI couldn\u2019t believe this was happening on my subway in my city that I grew up in,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Street performers who knew Neely described him as a kind and gifted impressionist who sank into a depression as a result of his mother\u2019s 2007 death. According to news accounts at the time, Christie Neely was strangled. Neely, who was 14 when she died, testified against his mother\u2019s boyfriend at the murder trial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tari Tudesco, a backup dancer in the Michael Jackson tribute act \u201cMichael\u2019s Mirror,\u201d said many in the community had grown worried about Neely\u2019s absence in recent years, and had begun searching for him, unsuccessfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe were in shock to find now that he was living homeless,\u201d she said. \u201cWe feel terrible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n