The NAACP attempted to use Marine veteran Daniel Penny’s acquittal to stir racial unrest on X, and immediately got hit with a community note laying out several key points explaining why race had absolutely no bearing on that case.
Penny was acquitted on Monday in the death of Jordan Neely, a black man who had a relatively impressive rap sheet before he began behaving erratically and threatening people on a New York City subway. Penny stepped in to stop him, briefly placing Neely in a choke hold — and while he died later, Neely was alive when police arrived on the scene.
The NAACP shared a CNN report on the acquittal and added the following commentary: “The acquittal of Daniel Penny in the death of Jordan Neely has effectively given license for vigilante justice to be waged on the Black community without consequence. It’s a painful reminder of the inequities in our justice system. Jordan deserved compassion. Instead, he was met with violence. We stand with his family in calling for accountability.”
The response from Community Notes was as thorough as it was quick:
“Daniel Penny did not act alone in defending himself and others from Neely. A black man can be clearly seen assisting Penny to subdue Neely. A black woman testified in defense of Penny. There is no evidence that Penny was motivated by race,” the note read — and included video showing proof that at least one black man had aided Penny in restraining Neely.
“It should be noted that another black man attempted to restrain Jordan Neely,” the video was captioned. “This event was not racial nor was the verdict. If you wanted to show compassion to Mr. Neely it should’ve [come] during the 100+ prior times he was arrested. He was a danger to his community. Just a fact.”
Sage Steele also responded to the NAACP, adding, “Stop. Please read/stop ignoring the facts of the case. Not only is your claim of racism inaccurate, it’s divisive, and it causes the @NAACP to lose even more credibility, which affects those in need when racism is actually taking place.”
