NEW YORK (PIX11) — There was another day of protesting the death of Jordan Neely, the homeless man choked to death on the subway after an alleged emotional outburst.
Protesters spray-painted Neely’s name on the sidewalk outside the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, and when they went to add red paint to symbolize blood, court officers tried briefly to intervene.
“They’ll arrest me before they arrest the killer,” the protester doing the painting shouted.
No arrests were made, but the two dozen protesters spent about an hour shouting at the police and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg to arrest the man who choked Neely to death aboard an uptown F train Monday afternoon.
“Jordan Neely was a great artist who brought great joy to the people of our city,” said Lorenzo Laroc, who knew Neely, a homeless street performer who was said to be having an emotional outburst when the incident happened. Laroc paints a different picture if Neely.
“He was the Michael Jackson act, and I’m here to give a different take on who this person was,” he said. “He was not the homeless man in distress. He was a professional artist who stopped traffic with his talent.”
As New Yorkers await a charging decision from the Manhattan district attorney, the administration of Mayor Eric Adams continues to take a cautious approach. It barred reporters from asking top public safety officials questions about the case at a weekly briefing Friday afternoon.
