A 'Penny' for my thoughts
How the Daniel Penny case highlights our issue with masculinity
I was supposed to be working on an article about peer pressure and parenting. It’s a good topic. But I’m going to have to go off script to share insights about the Daniel Penny story.
The Daniel Penny case revolves around a May 1, 2023, incident on a New York City subway in which Penny, a 24-year-old former U.S. Marine, placed 30-year-old Jordan Neely, a homeless man, in a chokehold after Neely reportedly acted erratically and made aggressive remarks. The altercation led to Neely’s death, ruled a homicide caused by neck compression.
The case sparked widespread debate about public safety, mental health, and the appropriateness of Penny's actions. Penny argued he acted to protect himself and others, while critics labeled the act excessive and potentially racially motivated, as Penny is white and Neely was Black. Penny was charged with manslaughter and later pleaded not guilty. The case has remained a focal point in discussions about justice and the balance between self-defense and the use of force.
On December 9, 2024, the jury in the trial acquitted Daniel Penny of all charges stemming from the case. So, there was some good news in the middle of all that insanity. The infamous, Alvin Bragg, Manhattan DA, whose soft-on-crime approach to prosecuting crime is one of the reasons that citizens of NYC ride the subway in constant fear, stated that he would “honor the jury’s decision.” That, in and of itself, is a surprise, considering Bragg’s record as the lead prosecutor for the Manhattan district.
There are several parts of this story that are pertinent to our discussion on the boy crisis in America. The first is the traditional role that men have had since the beginning of time as protector. In our upcoming book “Boys Have a Dam Problem: Examining the Faults that Have Put Our Boys in Crisis”, we talk about the biblical mandates that God gave men first. By ‘first’, we mean assignments that were given to men before there were women or were given by God to men in particular. These roles are Laborer, Leader, and Priest (before God and before other people). Somewhere under the ‘covering’ function of Leader is the distinct role men play defending others, especially loved ones. I would never, ever send my wife downstairs in the middle of the night to check out a strange sound. That would be cowardly. I’m reminded of the heroic actions of Corey Comperatore who died at a Trump rally in Butler, PA this past summer when he dove in front of his wife and daughter to protect them from gunfire. I would only hope that I was as brave in that moment of crisis.
The movie “Titanic” was the largest grossing movie ever for a time. One of the main characters, Cal (Caledon Hockley) was (and was portrayed) as an arrogant, narcissistic aristocrat. In the movie, and real life, he survives the shipwreck in the most cowardly way imaginable. What you don’t learn is that 1339 men died on that ship compared to 114 women and 56 boys and girls. Do you know why? Because hundreds of fathers gave their lives to save their wives and children that night. That storyline, however, was not highlighted.
When asked after the trial how to reflect on the incident, Penney stated that he could not have lived with himself if he had done nothing. Ten of the twelve witnesses on the subway train that day said they were afraid for their lives. There were mothers and elderly women on the train that day. They needed a hero when Jordan Neely stepped in and started threatening them with his wild antics, menacing language, and unstable behavior. Turns out their fears were well founded. Neely has a 42-arrest history, spanning from 2013 to 2021. Among these are four cases involving claimed violence, while other cases included charges of criminal trespass and transportation fraud. Thanks to a criminal justice system run by the likes of Alvin Bragg, Neely was never held accountable for his actions. In reality, the NY DA’s office should have been the ones on trial here. But, it was Daniel Penny who was on the train that day and felt obligated as a man of courage, to intervene and protect those who were being victimized by Neely. The former Marine vet with a spotless record, who was working on a college degree, wrestled Neely to the ground and held him a choke-hold until the authorities could get on site. Neely later died from a number of ‘combined factors’ none of which were the chokehold and for that, Penny was charged with manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. Thank you for your service. Your reward is 19 years in prison.
What kind of message do you think that sends to men and boys? Deny every impulse and urge to protect others. Save yourself. Ignore your God-given responsibility to protect and defend. Don’t be a hero. DON’T BE A HERO. Wow.
I’m sure they are out there, but I don’t know a daughter, a mother, or a grandmother that wouldn’t want Daniel Penny on their train. Culture says, “ masculinity is toxic.” Of course, they are referring to Penny and not Neely. How mixed up is that?
The second issue with the case is the story of Neely’s father, Andre Zachary. Zachary was absent from Neely’s life. Neely was raised by a mother who was killed by an abusive boyfriend when Jordan was only 14 years old. After that, he was placed in foster care as an ORPHAN. Where was Zachary? After that, Neely spent a life on the streets, embroiled in crime, drugs, and homelessness. No place to stay? Where was Zachary, his father? He was nowhere to be found until his son died and then he shows up shouting obscenities in the courtroom after the verdict was reached. He was escorted out but wasted little time in grabbing a hot microphone to blame systematic racism, the rigged system, UFOs, the Little Old Ladies of the Crochet Club, and everyone else for ‘failing’ his son. Really? Oh, and of course, he found a more than willing lawyer to file a civil suit against Penny for the wrongful death of his son. HIS son by DNA only. THIS was the problem from the start. Jordan Neely was doomed because his father abandoned him.
Corey Brooks is a pastor on the south side of Chicago that works with young men and deals regularly with the problems of absentee fathers. He’s a contributing writer for Fox News and recently wrote an article called, “Jordan Neely’s father played a role in his death. Don’t ignore America’s fatherhood crisis.” The article was published December 10, 2024. Regarding Zachary, Brooks notes:
And now he shows up when his son is cold and buried? To be clear, he didn’t show up for Jordan. He showed up for himself. Andre Zachary was never a father in any meaningful way and does not deserve that precious title. This angers me in ways that most people wouldn’t understand. I minister and work on the South Side of Chicago and I understand more than most how detrimental the absentee father has been to our community. I work with them every day.
At Treign Up, we believe there are three primary reasons for the boy crisis:
Deprivation of intentional fathers in the home
Disengagement of our boys from the current cultural education structures
Distortion and denial around biblical manhood leading to the demonization of masculinity.
The reason I shared this article is because it brings up two of the three issues contributing to this wicked problem in one story. Daniel Penny was never the bad guy in this story. The real culprit is the likes of Andre Zachary and the efforts of Alvin Bragg and his justice department to make the hero in this story look like a villian. At least for a day in December in 2024, a jury of Daniel Penny’s peers recognized the deception and (for a moment) stemmed the tide rising to discredit and distort masculinity and manhood in America. Thank you Daniel Penny for your service. You did not jump ship when you had the chance.
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