Daniel Penny Accepts JD Vance’s Invitation To Be Personal Guest At Army-Navy Game

Former U.S. Marine Daniel Penny accepted Vice President-elect J.D. Vance’s invitation Friday to be his personal guest at the upcoming Army-Navy game over the weekend.

A jury found Penny not guilty of criminally negligent homicide on Monday relating to the death of Jordan Neely, a 30-year-old homeless man, who the now-former defendant held in a chokehold to protect surrounding passengers on a New York City subway in May 2023. Vance praised Penny for his “courage” and criticized Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who prosecuted the former Marine, for attempting to “ruin life for having a backbone” in a Friday post on X.

“Daniel’s a good guy, and New York’s mob district attorney tried to ruin his life for having a backbone,” Vance said. “I’m grateful he accepted my invitation and hope he’s able to have fun and appreciate how much his fellow citizens admire his courage.”

Multiple witnesses said Neely approached commuters in an erratic and threatening manner by screaming, aggressively throwing his jacket on the ground and exclaiming that he did not care about going to jail. The day following his acquittal, Penny told Fox News’ Judge Jeanine Pirro that he would have felt immense guilt if Neely had harmed someone on the subway during a Tuesday Fox Nation interview.

“This type of thing is very uncomfortable. All this attention and limelight is very uncomfortable. I would prefer without it. I didn’t want any type of attention or praise … and I still don’t. The guilt I would have felt if someone did get hurt if he did do what he was threatening to do, I would never be able to live with myself,” Penny said.