NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) -- Police are searching for a half-dozen people who allegedly occupied subway tracks over the week to protest last week's chokehold killing of Jordan Neely.
The NYPD released surveillance images Monday showing the six people they're searching for in Saturday evening's track incursion at the Lexington Avenue–63rd Street station on the Upper East Side.
Around 6 p.m., dozens of people who were part of a larger group of protesters jumped from the platform down to the roadbed, where they chanted and held signs expressing their outrage over what they say is inaction in the case, as Neely's alleged killer hasn't been charged.
The protest disrupted service on the F and Q lines for about an hour. Power had to be cut to the station as the protesters were removed, police said, calling the situation "hazardous."
"That's not the place to protest," said Charlton D'Souza, of the advocacy group Passengers United. "I understand the anger and the frustration in this city, but why would you go on the subway tracks to do that? They could have been electrocuted."
"We held space within the subway station based on where Jordan Neely was murdered," protest organizer Hannah French told PIX11. "Because that person has been questioned but has been released by the D.A., we've been having a very hard time with that, because it doesn't make sense why he was murdered."
At least 13 people were arrested in connection with Saturday's protests, the latest following Neely's death on an F train at the Broadway–Lafayette Street/Bleecker Street station in SoHo last Monday afternoon.
Neely, a 30-year-old homeless man, was acting in a "hostile and erratic manner" to passengers and saying he was hungry and "ready to die" last Monday afternoon when Marine veteran Daniel Penny placed him in a chokehold that lasted at least several minutes, according to police and witnesses. Neely lost consciousness at the Broadway–Lafayette Street station and was pronounced dead at Lenox Health Greenwich Village.
The medical examiner ruled his death a homicide by compression of the neck, sparking protests throughout last week, including one across the Manhattan Bridge and another at Washington Square Park.
Neely's family released a lengthy statement Monday morning that they said was in response to last week's statement from Penny's lawyers, who said their client "did not intend to harm" Neely and "could not have foreseen his untimely death."
"Mr. Neely had a documented history of violent and erratic behavior, the apparent result of ongoing untreated mental illness," Penny's lawyer said. "When Mr. Neely began aggressively threatening Daniel Penny and the other passengers, Daniel, with the help of others, acted to protect themselves, until help arrived."
In their statement Monday, Neely's family said, in part, "Daniel Penny's press release is not an apology nor an expression of regret."
"It is a character assassination, and a clear example of why he believed he was entitled to take Jordan's life," the statement continued.
Neely's family goes on to say that Penny "knew nothing about Jordan's history when he intentionally wrapped his arms around Jordan's neck, and squeezed and kept squeezing."
A grand jury could reportedly decide as early as this week whether to charge Penny in the case, which is being investigated by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office.
Neely's death has divided New Yorkers, touching on topics like mental health, public safety, homelessness and race, as Neely was Black and Penny is white.
Critics have said the physical restraint was excessive and that Neely was outnumbered and hadn't attacked anyone. Those defending Penny say riders were in fear for their safety in an unpredictable situation.
Mayor Eric Adams said last week that there are "many layers to this," and he urged New Yorkers to let the investigative "process follow its course."
In their statement Monday, Neely's family urged Adams to "give us a call."
"The family wants you to know Jordan matters," they said. "You seem to think others are more important than him."
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