(NewsNation) — The choking death of a man on a New York City subway set off powerful reactions Thursday, including from legal analyst Elie Mystal, who said the killing was unjustified.
The incident happened around 2:30 p.m. Monday in Manhattan, NYPD officials said. A 30-year-old man, identified as Jordan Neely, boarded the subway train and started acting erratically, police said.
A 24-year-old subway rider, who is a former Marine, then went up to Neely and put him in a chokehold, video of the incident showed.
Around two minutes into the video, Neely appears to stop struggling. The 24-year-old man releases him from the chokehold about a minute later. The video then shows Neely unmoving on the floor of the train.
When officers responded to the scene, Neely was unconscious, police said. He was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead.
Authorities have reserved judgment on the killing, but Mystal said Thursday on “CUOMO” the video speaks for itself.
“He acted on his own accord to kill another person,” Mystal said of the rider who put Neely in a chokehold. “This is a Marine. He is trained in hand-to-hand combat. He knew exactly what would happen if he held that hold for any length of time. He knew what he was doing.”
No one has been arrested, but the Manhattan district attorney’s office said late Wednesday that it would review autopsy reports, as well as “assess all available video and photo footage, identify and interview as many witnesses as possible, and obtain additional medical records.”
Police questioned the 24-year-old whom the video showed holding Neely in a headlock for at least three minutes — perhaps longer — but released him without charges. His name was not released by police.
In the absence of video showing what happened before the chokehold, many were reserving judgment. Among them was Mayor Eric Adams, who said Thursday that there were “many layers” to the incident.
Neely, who had been homeless at times, according to people who knew him, was shouting at fellow passengers when the other rider wrapped his arm around his neck and pinned him on the floor. Two other passengers also helped restrain Neely.
Mystal argued that even if Neely was being belligerent or threatening others, the response of force from the other rider was disproportionate to the threat.
“Defense of others because somebody is screaming is not a legally justifiable reason to kill somebody,” Mystal said. “You can only use deadly force when you are met with deadly force. There has been nothing in any record, none of the other passengers, not the man who took the video, has suggested that this man, this homeless man, Jordan Neely, was threatening anybody with deadly force.”
As prosecutors collect evidence, legal analyst Mark Bederow said Thursday on “Dan Abrams Live” that’ll be one key component with which they wrestle.
“There may come a point where even if the Marine was authorized to use force in the first instance, that he just went too far,” Bederow said.
Both he and Mystal believe it’s likely that manslaughter or criminally negligent homicide charges will be filed.
“There is zero percent chance that this is going to end up in a murder prosecution,” Bederow said, because that requires intent under New York law.
“I don’t think any sensible person looking at this case would think that this Marine acted with the specific intent to murder, or kill, Mr. Neely,” Bederow said.
“The idea that this is justified is beyond the pale to me,” Mystal added.
The Associated Press and NewsNation affiliate WPIX-TV contributed to this report.