Subway Chokehold

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Jordan Neeley was a mentally disturbed man who had serious troubles with the law and with reality.

He also spent time on the subway cars of New York singing Michael Jackson songs to entertain people.

The other day he entered a subway car and was in a breakdown of sorts and was screaming.

Perhaps annoying some of the other passengers. I’m thinking that if I was on the ride, I’d be annoyed.

I might even move to another car. More than likely, I would’ve ignored the man.

One thing I definitely wouldn’t have done is put him into a chokehold until he could no longer take another breath.

A 24-year-old ex-marine grabbed Neeley and held on - right there on the floor of the car - until Neeley died.

There’s a video of the whole scene and it has been watched and replayed and shared and rewatched.

Thousands and thousands of times.

And the worst part of it all is that there are two sides to what is nothing more than a murder.

People who are arguing in defense of the ex-marine are quick to point out Neeley’s arrest record.

They point out that the other riders were certainly irritated and that the behavior was unstable.

All of that might be true.

Neeley was still murdered.

The ex-marine wasn’t an officer of the law. He did not have jurisdiction of the train. He wasn’t allowed to use excessive force, or any amount of force.

And I’m extremely disturbed because the ex-marine is going to have a cult following now.

There are certainly thousands and thousands of people ready to do the guy’s bidding, forgetting that he choked a man to death.

He wasn’t fearing for his life. It wasn’t self-defense.

What it boils down to, sad to say, is that Neeley was a black man.

Killed by a much stronger, much younger white man.

Race is going to enter the conversation no matter what any of us think about it…

…and those who are defending the ex-marine might believe that Neeley’s life didn’t amount to anything worth much.

Disposable lives in the minds of many.

It’s not anything but shameful, and I’m not going to involve myself in the debate.

Cause it was straight up homicide.

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