Man Admits He Lied To NYPD About Jordan Neely On Subway
November 13, 2024
Eric Gonzalez admitted to the lie in his testimony during Penny’s criminal trial.
The man who helped former Marine Daniel Penny put Jordan Neely in a chokehold to his death on an NYC subway admits he lied to authorities on what led to the altercation.
The man, Eric Gonzalez, falsely accused Neely of trying to hit him on the train after discovering Neely died from the assault. According to the Gothamist, he admitted to the lie in his testimony during Penny’s criminal trial, sharing that he thought he would be charged with murder if he told the truth.
In his initial interview following the May 2023 incident, Gonzalez told the NYPD that Neely tried to hit him, which led to Penny’s restraint of the Black man. Moreover, after helping Penny restrain him, he claimed that he asked Neely if he was OK. Neely responded, “Yeah.”
However, Gonzalez’s latest testimony unraveled all of his original statements. He was not on the subway with Penny and Neely to see the situation from the beginning. In actuality, he jumped in to help Penny after he walked onto the train and saw the physical confrontation happening.
The incident started after Neely began shouting on the subway about being hungry and willing to die or go to jail, with Penny taking matters to subdue Neely into his own hands. Neely died shortly after Penny restrained him in a chokehold for nearly six minutes, as the former Marine continued to subdue him despite Neely not moving. Video footage of the tragedy went viral on social media, sparking protests and media attention on the instance of vigilantism.
Upon admitting the real story, prosecutors questioned Gonzalez about why he originally said something different. He said he was trying to “justify” why he got involved.
“I was trying to justify my actions for me having my hands on him,” he said.
He did not disclose the truth until authorities told him they had evidence debunking his story. Moreover, Gonzalez originally withheld the correct information out of fear of retribution by the public.
“Public persecution,” Gonzalez said. “I’m scared for myself. I’m scared for my family.”
Prosecutors promised Gonzalez they would not use his true recount of what happened against him. Gonzalez asserts that he got involved to help yet continued restraining Neely with Penny. Gonzalez even put his leg over Neely’s arm after losing his grip on the man.
He added, “I was doing everything possible to basically shut him up.”
He told authorities that he did not see how tight the chokehold was, despite telling a man urging them to let Neely go that Penny was not squeezing his neck.
Penny has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide charges. His defense team claims that the former Marine did not intend to kill Neely.
Gonzalez is one of two men who helped Penny restrain Neely. The other, a German tourist, refused to testify at the trial.
