New York City is a powder keg ... on the heels of a subway rider getting choked to his death, pissed-off protesters are going toe-to-toe with NYPD officers, and it's starting to get violent.
Demonstrations are going down on subway platforms and in the streets ... where cops attempted to detain one protester while several others rushed at the handful of officers who had to form a circle to fend off attacks.
The violence is simmering over the death of Jordan Neely ... a 30-year-old homeless man who was riding a subway train Monday afternoon when a Marine vet placed him in a chokehold for 15 minutes. The Medical Examiner has deemed Neely's death a homicide.
Full video pic.twitter.com/ZR5Lggz9FB
— The Tank (@RickTheTank) May 4, 2023
NYPD has said Neely appeared to be having a mental health episode, and had been pacing and shouting on the train. Cell phone footage shows the 24-year-old veteran wrestling Neely to the ground and applying the chokehold. He eventually went unconscious, and although paramedics transported him to a hospital, they could not resuscitate Neely.
Along with the protests, there's now a war of words between NYC Mayor Eric Adams and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
This honestly feels like a new low: not being able to clearly condemn a public murder because the victim was of a social status some would deem “too low” to care about.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) May 3, 2023
The last sentence is especially rich from an admin trying to cut the very services that could have helped him. https://t.co/0DtXl9DOO5
AOC is ripping Adams for not calling the incident a murder. The Mayor issued a statement purely focused on Neely's mental health without mentioning the actions of the Marine which led to Neely's death. The medical examiner has already ruled it a homicide.
The Marine has not been named or arrested ... which is prompting numerous protests demanding justice for Neely, and criticizing Mayor Adams' treatment of the city's homeless.