Kurth wrote: Sun May 07, 2023 8:43 amI don’t necessarily agree with all those comments, but I completely disagree that they are, taken as a whole, “morally repulsive."
A bunch of people demonizing a mentally ill person to potentially justify his killing isn't morally repulsive? To each to their own I guess.
I’m sure there are some evil asshats out there that don’t give a shit about Jordan Neeley and could care less that he was killed. But most comments I have seen, including these above for the most part, are not reveling in his death. I think this is a terribly murky situation. Given everything I’ve read about Neeley, it doesn’t seem like a stretch to think he was terrifying the people in that subway car.
It's not about reveling. It's about talking about broad situations about homelessness with such disdain.
As to the murkiness, at the very least I implore you to watch the video. Once he put him in the hold there is zero murk. People might have been scared but the guy clearly wasn't a threat at that point. The reporter who recorded the video and at least two passengers said he sounded desperate. Some were scared but nothing suggested a lethal hold was necessary.
No heroes here, certainly, but, at this point, I think it’s wrong to opine with certainty that anyone on that train was a villain.
This isn't about heroes and villains. It's about our broken culture. There is a direct line from this to other sorts of violence prevalent in our society. We bend over backward to defend the use of violence against marginalized people and excuse it post hoc.
That may change. Maybe Daniel Penny has a history of racism or social media posts advocating to kill the homeless. But I haven’t seen anything like that yet. All I’ve seen is he was a marine with an undistinguished military career looking for a job bartending in NYC when he came across Neeley. Reports from those that know him say he was a laidback guy who loved to travel and surf and had backpacked through Central America.
Isn't it odd how the killer gets cleaned up and the victim here is getting tarnished. By the usual political actors.
Nothing screams jack booted thug itching for a chance to kill some poor crazy homeless guy on the subway.
Bad decisions in a bad situation leading to a bad outcome. A tragedy.
No doubt but notice I'm not even talking about the legal responsibility. We have a good reason to believe that Penny was physically responsible at least. What we don't know is the intent/motive/recklessness though it seems reckless considering contemporary folks warned him Penny he was killing Neely. I'm solely talking about the people who are hunting for excuses without knowing the facts. That's what I find exceptionally gross.
