Photo by Piotr Osmenda on Unsplash
The prosecution of an unarmed ex-Marine for acting in self-defense to protect passengers on the New York City subway has sparked a nationwide uproar. This latest salvo in the Leftist war on self-defense has liberals demanding additional charges against the hero. The 24-year-old Daniel Penny is a white retired Marine sergeant from Long Island who wrestled down and restrained a troubled black man named Jordan Neely.
With no police officers in sight, Neely was menacing multiple passengers on the moving subway train until Penny restrained him while asking others to call the police. Other passengers on the subway also viewed Neely as dangerous, and helped restrain him. Penny deserves the praise he’s receiving nationwide for acting in self-defense, and $2.5 million from 50,000 donors quickly poured in to support his legal defense.
Long before having any idea what legal or illegal drugs may have triggered frightening behavior by Neely, the politically motivated medical examiner opened the door for the DA to file manslaughter charges against the heroic young marine. Neely has a long criminal record that included punching a 67-year-old woman in the face and breaking her nose less than two years ago. A toxicology report would ordinarily be necessary before declaring a cause of death, but the New York City medical examiner is a political appointee of its Democrat mayor.
The dramatic rescue by a quick-thinking civilian is reminiscent of other recent episodes in which an ordinary citizen stepped up to save others from harm. The bystander who averted a massacre at an Indiana shopping mall last year, 22-year-old Elisjsha Dicken, was hailed as a hero then, as Daniel Penny should be applauded now. Instead, Penny is becoming a political martyr merely because the aggressive threat that he tried to restrain was not compatible with the left’s preferred narrative.
If Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s dream is ever to come true, we must embrace the principle that Americans should be judged based on the content of their character rather than the color of their skin. That means heroes should not be prosecuted for protecting innocent people from aggressors who threaten public safety.
