Daniel Penny’s lawyer ‘applauds’ DA’s decision not to charge NYC subway shooter: ‘Forced to defend himself’
NY Post
The lawyer for Daniel Penny, the former Marine indicted in the Manhattan subway chokehold death of a disturbed rider, said Brooklyn prosecutors made the right call by not pursuing charges against the man who shot an aggressive straphanger on Thursday.
“I applaud the Brooklyn district attorney for exercising the prosecutorial discretion to realize that somebody who was forced to defend himself and others shouldn’t be subjected to a criminal indictment — I think that’s how it should play out,’’ Penny’s attorney Thomas Kenniff told The Post in a statement.
The Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office said Friday that there was “evidence of self-defense” when a 32-year-old man shot an agitator on a crowded rush-hour subway — and therefore wouldn’t be filing charges.
The shooter in Thursday’s subway clash was identified by sources as Younece Obuad, and Kenniff argued there are parallels between his case and that of Penny, who said he took down Jordan Neely to defend other passengers on the train.
“This is the same environment that confronted my client last year,” Kenniff said in the statement.
And in a Friday night interview on “Jesse Watters Primetime,” Kenniff told the Fox News host that “it’s absolutely frustrating” that Penny was charged when Obuad was not, given the similarities of the situation.
