In the wake of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg filing second-degree manslaughter charges against a former Marine who put an unruly subway passenger in a chokehold that ultimately resulted in the passenger’s death, a witness to the incident referred to the veteran as a “hero.”

The 50-year New York City resident said, “He’s a hero,” as reported by Fox News.

The woman, who identified herself as a woman of color, criticized Bragg for submitting charges, stating that he had acted improperly.

“It was self-defense, and I believe in my heart that he saved a lot of people that day that could have gotten hurt,” she told the news outlet.

According to the report, Neely, who had more than 40 arrests and had recently served a year in prison for a violent incident, rushed onto the northbound F Train on May 1 and began threatening passengers. Neely had more than 40 arrests and had recently served a year in prison for a violent incident.

“I’m sitting on a train reading my book, and, all of a sudden, I hear someone spewing this rhetoric. He said, ‘I don’t care if I have to kill an F, I will. I’ll go to jail, I’ll take a bullet,’” said the woman, who is in her 60s.

Several terrified passengers rushed for the subway car’s entrances.

“I’m looking at where we are in the tube, in the sardine can, and I’m like, ‘OK, we’re in between stations. There’s nowhere we can go,’” she said. “The people on that train, we were scared. We were scared for our lives.”

After Neely used the words “kill” and “bullet,” Daniel Penny entered the conversation.

“Why in the world would you take a bullet? Why? You don’t take a bullet because you’ve snatched something from somebody’s hand. You take a bullet for violence,” she told Fox News Digital, which added:

The witness stated that it was evident to her that Penny waited until the last possible moment to intervene on behalf of his fellow passengers. She heard a thud when he dragged Neely to the ground, but she could not see clearly until the Broadway-Lafayette station doors opened and the majority of passengers exited. The witness awaited the arrival of the police before providing a statement.

“Mr. Penny was compassionate. That was his action. This is his offense, she told Fox News Digital, adding that she and other passengers thanked Penny following the incident.

She added that Penny appeared rattled by the conflict afterwards.

“Nobody wants to kill anybody. Mr. Penny didn’t want to kill that man,” she said. “You should have seen the way Mr. Penny looked. He was distraught. He was very, very, very visibly distressed. And he didn’t go. He didn’t run. He stayed.”

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass stated during Penny’s arraignment on Friday that the Marine veteran, who has lived in the New York area his entire life, continued to restrain Neely for a “period of time” after Neely ceased moving.

Penny remained on the train and voluntarily answered inquiries at a nearby station with NYPD officers. He was subsequently released, but days later Bragg decided to prosecute.

More on this story via Conservative Brief:

“It took three men to hold Mr. Neely down. He was struggling,” the witness said. CONTINUE READING…