Unbiased coverage by the Guardian
𝑱𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒂𝒏 𝑵𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒂𝒔 ‘𝒔𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑’, 𝑨𝒍 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒑𝒕𝒐𝒏 𝒔𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒇𝒖𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝒆𝒖𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒚
At the funeral at a Harlem church on Friday, Sharpton railed against vigilantism and called for more support for the man’s family.
“What happened to Jordan was a crime, and this family shouldn’t have to stand by themselves,” the New York politician and civil rights activist said at the service, which was attended by officials including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
On Friday morning in Harlem, the majority Black neighborhood steeped in civil rights history, Sharpton told mourners Neely’s life should be celebrated “but we should not ignore how he died”.
Many said Penny was quick to use unjustified deadly force on a Black man who posed no real threat. There were demonstrations in the subway and on the streets of New York in the days after Neely was killed.
Others argue that Penny was trying to protect people on the train and shouldn’t be punished, with these arguments part of 𝒂 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕-𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒖𝒅𝒍𝒚 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝑷𝒆𝒏𝒏𝒚.
Sharpton noted that Florida’s Republican governor Ron DeSantis, expected to run for the White House, called Penny a “good Samaritan” last week and that he shared a fundraising link for Penny’s legal defense.
Sharpton said the parable of the good Samaritan is about coming to the aid of someone in need.
“A good Samaritan helps those in trouble,” Sharpton said. “They don’t choke him out.”
Local elected officials including congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the New York lieutenant governor, Antonio Delgado, were among the hundreds attending the funeral, which was at the same church where the funeral for Neely’s mother, Christie Neely, was held after she was murdered when Jordan was 14.
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Lovely photo of heartbroken AOC
