Morning Joe hosts share their verdict on the Daniel Penny trial after Marine vet was found not guilty
MSNBC’s Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough slammed the US government for not doing enough for the mentally ill after Daniel Penny was acquitted over the death of Jordan Neely.
Referencing Neely’s psychological state before he was killed, Scarborough, 61, called for the US to spend more money for treatment and said the system was ‘grossly insufficient’ on Tuesday.
‘Whether you’re talking about New York, whether you’re talking about Florida, whether you’re talking about California, you have people walking about on the streets that have mental health issues,’ he said.
He went on to say that there is ‘nothing compassionate’ or ‘progressive’ about ‘leaving people with mental health problems on the street’.
‘We need to spend more money as a society taking care of those who have mental health challenges and not just say, yeah, you can live on the streets. Bad things happen,’ the host, who has found himself in hot water a lot lately, said.
Scarborough’s comments come as Daniel Penny, a former Marine, was acquitted on Monday for the death of Jordan Neely on the New York City subway in May 2023.
Penny, 26, had faced manslaughter charges for the Michael Jackson impersonator’s death.
The controversy sparked after Neely, 30, got on an F train that day and began making threats at passengers and said he wasn’t afraid to go back to jail.
Joe Scarborough, 61, called for the US to spend more money to help those who suffer from mental illness and said the system was ‘grossly insufficient’ on Tuesday
Scarborough’s comments come as Daniel Penny (pictured), a former Marine, was acquitted on Monday for the death of Jordan Neely on the New York City subway in May 2023
Neely had a long rap sheet, a history of mental illness and filtered through the Big Apple’s homeless shelters on multiple occasions.
Penny grabbed him in a chokehold and wrestled him to the ground, where he subdued him for several minutes on the train.
Video footage showed Neely struggling to get out of the hold before eventually going limp, despite passengers telling the former soldier to let go.
Ahead of Penny’s verdict, Mayor Eric Adams – who was recently indicted – also criticized the city’s mental health system.
‘You look at the complete failure of our mental health system, a complete failure,’ he said on the Rob Astorino Show earlier this month. ‘From the days of closing psychiatric wards and having those who needed help just turned over into the street without giving any safety net to accept them.
‘What do we do? A system where you brought people into hospitals, gave them medicine for one day, and sent them back.’
After Penny was let go of his charges, Neely’s family yelled horrendous threats at the former Marine, calling him a ‘racist c**t’ and warned: ‘It’s a small world, buddy.’
Neely (pictured with Penny) had a long rap sheet and had a history of mental illness and filter through the Big Apple’s system on multiple occasions. Penny grabbed him in a chokehold and wrestled him to the ground, where he subdued him for several minutes on the train
After Penny was let go of his charges, Neely’s family yelled horrendous threats at the former Marine, calling him a ‘racist c**t’ and warned: ‘It’s a small world, buddy’
Neely, 30, was once among the city’s corps of subway and street performers and was known for his Michael Jackson impersonations
They were escorted out of the courtroom.
Neely, 30, was once among the city’s corps of subway and street performers and was known for his Michael Jackson impersonations. He struggled with drug abuse and a mental illness, and had a criminal record that included assault convictions.
Neely’s death on the subway car last spring sparked racial tensions in the Big Apple as groups such as Black Lives Matter sought to paint Penny as an overzealous, white ex-Marine targeting an innocent black man.
However, the national attention on the trial also saw many conservatives question why Penny, who was studying to be an architect, was even charged.
Despite a wave of public support and testimony from others on the train who said Penny acted out of bravery, Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg’s office pushed ahead with the prosecution. While two other men helped Penny subdue Neely, they were never charged.
Bragg was under intense pressure to charge Penny, with Democrats and protesters calling his death murder. Protests erupted near the Broadway-Lafayette subway station where Neely died.
During closing statements defense attorney Steven Raiser theorized that the District Attorney’s office caved to pressure from furious protesters who divided the case on racial lines early on.
Penny has been described by fans as a hero and ‘modern day Batman’ who selflessly came to the aid of women and children on the train despite the risks to himself
Penny has been described by fans as a hero and ‘modern day Batman’ who selflessly came to the aid of women and children on the train despite the risks to himself.
As for Scarborough, the MSNBC host has caught himself in plenty of trouble recently from having an on-air rant to being criticized for visiting President-Elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago.
Scarborough added fuel to the fire when he went on a 20-minute rant earlier this month responding to critics who said he ‘fears’ Trump.
They also skipped the broadcast after the rant, but it was because they were traveling to Arkansas to interview Former President Bill Clinton.
