Screenshot of Daniel Penny subduing a violent Jordan Neely.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nThough the Daniel Penny trial is deadlocked with the judge urging jurors to continue deliberating, should they reach a decision, the verdict may ultimately be on something far bigger than the actions of one Marine on a New York City subway. It could be about what kind of country we want to be\u2014a nation of men and women willing to step up in the face of danger, or a nation of cowards who film chaos on their phones and do nothing to stop it.<\/p>\n
Penny, a Marine veteran, was riding the subway when Jordan Neely\u2014a man with a long history of mental health issues and violent outbursts\u2014began threatening passengers. Witnesses described Neely\u2019s behavior as erratic and frightening. Penny acted decisively, restraining him in a chokehold to prevent what he and others clearly believed was a potential attack. Tragically, Neely died.<\/p>\n
What followed wasn\u2019t a nuanced look at a tragic situation, but an immediate rush to blame Penny, in part or in whole, because Penny is white and Neely was black. Neely also had a history of mental illness\u2026and violence. His death was tragic, but the threat he posed to passengers on the F train that day was real. Despite that, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg wasted no time charging Penny with second-degree manslaughter. Bragg, known for his soft-on-crime policies, seemed determined to make an example of Penny\u2014a man who, unlike the violent criminals Bragg often releases with a slap on the wrist, tried to\u00a0protect<\/em>\u00a0people. How dare he?!? That\u2019s Bragg\u2019s providence.<\/p>\nMake no mistake, the prosecution of Penny sends a chilling message to all Americans: if you step up to stop violence, you might become the next defendant. At the very least it tells us that in Bragg\u2019s New York, the safest course of action is to do nothing. Let the chaos unfold, keep your hands to yourself and pray the police arrive before anyone gets seriously hurt (and in Bragg\u2019s New York as well as other cities with liberal district attorneys, even the police may wind up getting charged.) Better yet, pull out your phone and get it all on video. At least you won\u2019t end up behind bars. Dead or seriously wounded maybe, but not behind bars.<\/p>\n
The irony is almost unbearable. In a time when violent crime is rising and public safety feels more fragile than ever, Penny\u2019s actions represented exactly the kind of courage we need. He saw people in danger and acted, not out of malice but out of a sense of duty to protect those around him. He didn\u2019t wake up that morning or board that subway training thinking, \u201cI want to hurt or kill somebody today.\u201d His sense of duty\u2014the willingness to defend others even at personal risk\u2014is at the core of what makes a society function. Without it, we\u2019re just bystanders to our own demise.<\/p>\n
And let\u2019s not kid ourselves about what happens next if this precedent sticks. Imagine the next subway, the next mall, the next street corner where someone decides to lash out. Will anyone step in? Or will they hesitate, thinking about the potential criminal charges that might await them? Alvin Bragg might not care, he\u2019s sitting safely in his ivory tower, far from the danger spawned by his choices, but the rest of us will be living with the consequences of his decisions for a long time.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s worth noting that the jury couldn\u2019t reach a unanimous decision in Penny\u2019s trial\u2014at least not yet, and maybe the won\u2019t. That\u2019s no surprise. The case was never black and white, and it shouldn\u2019t have been brought to court in the first place. Prosecuting Penny wasn\u2019t about justice\u2014it was about politics. It was about sending a message that the powers-that-be are more interested in virtue-signaling than protecting their citizens.<\/p>\n
But here\u2019s the real question: What kind of country do\u00a0we<\/em>\u00a0want to live in? Do we want to raise our kids in a world where good men like Daniel Penny are punished for doing the right thing, or do we want to stand behind them? Do we want to reward courage or cultivate a culture of fear? Part of that answer arrived during last month\u2019s elections where a majoirty of Americans voted \u201cenough\u201d on the weakness of our country under the wan leadership of Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and the Democrats and decided they wanted a strong leader, the type who can take a bullet and stand back up undaunted.<\/p>\nPenny\u2019s case isn\u2019t over yet, but the debate it has sparked will echo far beyond an eventual jury verdict. And for those of us who believe in self-defense, courage and the right to protect ourselves and others, the stakes couldn\u2019t be higher. Let\u2019s hope the next good Samaritan isn\u2019t afraid to act\u2014because the alternative is a nation that stands by as chaos reigns.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Screenshot of Daniel Penny subduing a violent Jordan Neely. Though the Daniel Penny trial is deadlocked with the judge urging jurors to continue deliberating, should they reach a decision, the verdict may ultimately be on something far bigger than the actions of one Marine on a New York City subway. It could be about what […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4287,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-4286","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-reviews"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunsandpride.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunsandpride.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunsandpride.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsandpride.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsandpride.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4286"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gunsandpride.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4286\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsandpride.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunsandpride.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsandpride.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsandpride.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![<\/a>Screenshot of Daniel Penny subduing a violent Jordan Neely.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nThough the Daniel Penny trial is deadlocked with the judge urging jurors to continue deliberating, should they reach a decision, the verdict may ultimately be on something far bigger than the actions of one Marine on a New York City subway. It could be about what kind of country we want to be\u2014a nation of men and women willing to step up in the face of danger, or a nation of cowards who film chaos on their phones and do nothing to stop it.<\/p>\nPenny, a Marine veteran, was riding the subway when Jordan Neely\u2014a man with a long history of mental health issues and violent outbursts\u2014began threatening passengers. Witnesses described Neely\u2019s behavior as erratic and frightening. Penny acted decisively, restraining him in a chokehold to prevent what he and others clearly believed was a potential attack. Tragically, Neely died.<\/p>\nWhat followed wasn\u2019t a nuanced look at a tragic situation, but an immediate rush to blame Penny, in part or in whole, because Penny is white and Neely was black. Neely also had a history of mental illness\u2026and violence. His death was tragic, but the threat he posed to passengers on the F train that day was real. Despite that, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg wasted no time charging Penny with second-degree manslaughter. Bragg, known for his soft-on-crime policies, seemed determined to make an example of Penny\u2014a man who, unlike the violent criminals Bragg often releases with a slap on the wrist, tried to\u00a0protect<\/em>\u00a0people. How dare he?!? That\u2019s Bragg\u2019s providence.<\/p>\nMake no mistake, the prosecution of Penny sends a chilling message to all Americans: if you step up to stop violence, you might become the next defendant. At the very least it tells us that in Bragg\u2019s New York, the safest course of action is to do nothing. Let the chaos unfold, keep your hands to yourself and pray the police arrive before anyone gets seriously hurt (and in Bragg\u2019s New York as well as other cities with liberal district attorneys, even the police may wind up getting charged.) Better yet, pull out your phone and get it all on video. At least you won\u2019t end up behind bars. Dead or seriously wounded maybe, but not behind bars.<\/p>\nThe irony is almost unbearable. In a time when violent crime is rising and public safety feels more fragile than ever, Penny\u2019s actions represented exactly the kind of courage we need. He saw people in danger and acted, not out of malice but out of a sense of duty to protect those around him. He didn\u2019t wake up that morning or board that subway training thinking, \u201cI want to hurt or kill somebody today.\u201d His sense of duty\u2014the willingness to defend others even at personal risk\u2014is at the core of what makes a society function. Without it, we\u2019re just bystanders to our own demise.<\/p>\nAnd let\u2019s not kid ourselves about what happens next if this precedent sticks. Imagine the next subway, the next mall, the next street corner where someone decides to lash out. Will anyone step in? Or will they hesitate, thinking about the potential criminal charges that might await them? Alvin Bragg might not care, he\u2019s sitting safely in his ivory tower, far from the danger spawned by his choices, but the rest of us will be living with the consequences of his decisions for a long time.<\/p>\nIt\u2019s worth noting that the jury couldn\u2019t reach a unanimous decision in Penny\u2019s trial\u2014at least not yet, and maybe the won\u2019t. That\u2019s no surprise. The case was never black and white, and it shouldn\u2019t have been brought to court in the first place. Prosecuting Penny wasn\u2019t about justice\u2014it was about politics. It was about sending a message that the powers-that-be are more interested in virtue-signaling than protecting their citizens.<\/p>\nBut here\u2019s the real question: What kind of country do\u00a0we<\/em>\u00a0want to live in? Do we want to raise our kids in a world where good men like Daniel Penny are punished for doing the right thing, or do we want to stand behind them? Do we want to reward courage or cultivate a culture of fear? Part of that answer arrived during last month\u2019s elections where a majoirty of Americans voted \u201cenough\u201d on the weakness of our country under the wan leadership of Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and the Democrats and decided they wanted a strong leader, the type who can take a bullet and stand back up undaunted.<\/p>\nPenny\u2019s case isn\u2019t over yet, but the debate it has sparked will echo far beyond an eventual jury verdict. And for those of us who believe in self-defense, courage and the right to protect ourselves and others, the stakes couldn\u2019t be higher. Let\u2019s hope the next good Samaritan isn\u2019t afraid to act\u2014because the alternative is a nation that stands by as chaos reigns.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\nSource link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Screenshot of Daniel Penny subduing a violent Jordan Neely. Though the Daniel Penny trial is deadlocked with the judge urging jurors to continue deliberating, should they reach a decision, the verdict may ultimately be on something far bigger than the actions of one Marine on a New York City subway. It could be about what […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4287,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-4286","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-reviews"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunsandpride.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunsandpride.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunsandpride.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsandpride.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsandpride.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4286"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gunsandpride.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4286\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsandpride.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunsandpride.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsandpride.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsandpride.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}](\"https:\/\/cdn0.thetruthaboutguns.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Daniel-Penny-chokehold.jpg\"){kind=link}