Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and New York City Mayor Eric Adams are in a spat over the recent choking death of Jordan Neely, a Michael Jackson impersonator who died after passengers restrained him during a mental breakdown on the New York City subway.
Neely was put in a choke hold for approximately 15 minutes by a 24-year-old Marine veteran, while two other passengers held down his arms and pinned his shoulders. Neely lost consciousness during the incident, and was unable to be revived by EMTs. He was taken to a hospital and declared dead soon after.
Homeless Black man,30-year-old Jordan Neely choked to death by 3 passengers in NYC subway F Train this week #JusticeforJordanNeely pic.twitter.com/cJIcRcXFX8
— Voice Of Our Ancestors Channel (@VoiceOfOurAnces)
According to the NYC Medical Examiner's Office, Neely's death was ruled a homicide caused by pressure to the neck. The Marine veteran was taken into custody by NYPD and released without charges by Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg's office, which promised to review the medical examiner's report as well as video footage.
"Jordan Neely was murdered," AOC tweeted Wednesday night. "But [because] Jordan was houseless and crying for food in a time when the city is raising rents and stripping services to militarize itself while many in power demonize the poor, the murderer gets protected [with] passive headlines [and] no charges. It's disgusting."
Notes ftw again
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk)
AOC was replying to a statement by NYC Mayor Eric Adams, who said in a comment: "Any loss of life is tragic. There’s a lot we don’t know about what happened here, so I’m going to refrain from commenting further," only to comment further: "However, we do know there were serious mental health issues in play here which is why our administration has made record investment in providing care to those who ended it and getting people off the streets and subways, and out of dangerous situations."
AOC called Adams' statement "a new low," adding "The last sentence is especially rich from an admin trying to cut the very services that could have helped him."
This honestly feels like a new low: not being able to clearly condemn a public murder because the victim was of a social status some would deem “too low” to care about.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC)
The last sentence is especially rich from an admin trying to cut the very services that could have helped him. https://t.co/0DtXl9DOO5
Adams, appearing on CNN Primetime to discuss, said AOC was acting irresponsibly.
"I don’t think that’s very responsible at a time when we’re still investigating the situation. Let’s let the DA conduct his investigation with the law enforcement officials, to really interfere with that is not the right thing to do," he said. "And I’m going to be responsible and allow them to do their job and allow them to determine what exactly happened here."
Protesters blocked traffic on Wednesday following the incident, and held a vigil for Neely that night.
Protesters for Jordan Neely, a homeless man choked to death while acting erratically on the subway, block traffic in NYC pic.twitter.com/ACexSUuq9r
— Timcast News (@TimcastNews)
A protest took place on a NYC subway platform in response to the vigilante murder of 30-year-old Jordan Neely who was choked to death by an ex-marine.
— BreakThrough News (@BTnewsroom)
There are still no charges for the man who committed this crime. Activists are demanding immediate action. pic.twitter.com/G2CiOyXQt8
Demonstrators take to the streets demanding justice for a homeless man, Jordan Neely, who was choked to death by a subway passenger and are calling for this individual to be arrested #homeless #JordanNeely #chokehold #nyc pic.twitter.com/Hni4avZyCj
— Dean_Moses (@Dean_Moses)
None of the men alive or dead in this photo deserved to be in that situation, none of them. This was a travesty engineered by viciously cruel public policy and idiots. Shame on everyone in charge of "public safety." pic.twitter.com/A73WJVXnkC
— Peachy Keenan (@KeenanPeachy)