NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) -- Nearly a dozen people were arrested in SoHo on Monday evening after vigil for Jordan Neely turned into a street melee between cops and some protesters, with police saying a Molotov cocktail was found in the crowd of about 150 people.
The 11 arrests at Houston and Broadway followed 13 arrests made at protests Saturday over last week's chokehold killing of Neely on an F train in SoHo.
The arrests Monday included a man who had blood streaming down his face as he was led into the back of a police van. Photojournalist Stephanie Keith was also said to be among those arrested.
Police said they also made two additional arrests Monday in connection with a protest that took place on the tracks of an Upper East Side subway station on Saturday evening.
Protesters have been voicing their outrage that charges haven't been filed against Marine veteran Daniel Penny, 24, who is being investigated for choking Neely, 30, for at least several minutes after Neely acted in a "hostile and erratic manner" to passengers on a train, according to a police report.
Monday's vigil started with candles being placed on a sidewalk outside the Broadway–Lafayette Street subway station, where Neely was killed. Activist Kimberly Bernard gave a speech to those in attendance.
"Our mayor and the NYPD decided that Jordan Neely was too poor, too Black and too mentally ill to deserve justice," Bernard said.
"Three years to the month of George Floyd being lynched for the world to see, we have learned nothing," she told the crowd.
But within minutes, the candles were trampled on as tensions boiled over on the sidelines and police began making arrests.
At a press conference, NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey said a Molotov cocktail was found on the ground in the crowd.
"We respect people's right to protest, we respect their First Amendment rights, but we will not tolerate people breaking the law," Maddrey said. "Most importantly we will not tolerate people bringing weapons and dangerous substances to peaceful protests."
The chief said investigators were working to identify liquid in the bottle.
At one point during the skirmishes, officers brought a man down on the street in the middle of Houston Street.
"Get off him! You're choking him!" a woman can be heard screaming during the arrest.
The roughly 11 arrests were made for crimes like obstructing administration and disorderly conduct, police said.
Officers told organizers to clear a path to a subway entrance, but some demonstrators locked arms and refused to budge, leading to arrests.
There was also an issue over protesters' use of a bullhorn without a permit, police said, and a journalist was arrested after she allegedly interfered in three arrests.
As for injuries during the scuffles, NYPD Chief John Chell said, "Two of those protesters assaulted themselves."
Maddrey said that after the arrests were made, "we had a peaceful protest."
"People marched from the vicinity of Houston and Broadway all the way down here to the 7th Precinct with no problems," he said.
A grand jury could convene as soon as this week to decide whether to bring charges against Penny in the case, which is being investigated by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office.
Penny expressed condolences to Neely's family in a statement, while also saying he and other passengers "acted to protect themselves" on the train.
In a statement Monday, Neely's family said Penny "needs to be in prison" and labeled his statement a "character assassination" of Neely.
Asked for comment on the arrests by a reporter from The City during an event in Howard Beach on Monday night, Mayor Eric Adams referenced the Molotov cocktail.
"What were they planning on doing with that?" Adams said. "Agitators that come from outside our city with Molotov cocktails, we should all be concerned about that."
The mayor also said he tried to get ahold of Neely's family several times on Monday to offer his condolences. In their statement earlier in the day, the family had asked him to "give us a call."
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