The man, Eric Gonzalez, said he feared he would be charged with murder.
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Man admits he lied when he told NYPD that Jordan Neely tried to hit him on the F train
https://gothamist.com/staff/samantha-max
By
Samantha Max
Published Nov 12, 2024
Modified Nov 12, 2024
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A man who helped Daniel Penny restrain Jordan Neely on an uptown F train in May 2023 lied to law enforcement after he learned Neely had died, because he feared he would be charged with murder, according to his own testimony at Penny's criminal trial on Tuesday.
Eric Gonzalez told police and prosecutors in his initial interview that he was on the subway with Neely and Penny. Gonzalez said Neely had tried to hit him, and that’s why Penny was restraining Neely. He also told law enforcement that after he and Penny had let go of Neely, he asked Neely whether he was OK and Neely responded, “Yeah.”
All of those details were made up, Gonzalez told jurors in a packed Manhattan courtroom. He bowed his head as Assistant District Attorney Dafna Yoran questioned him about the lies and about why he had fabricated such a story.
“I was trying to justify my actions for me having my hands on him,” he said.
Penny is on trial on manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide charges for a chokehold prosecutors say started with good intentions but went “way too far.” After Neely boarded the subway car Penny was riding and started yelling that he was hungry, thirsty and willing to die or go to jail, according to witnesses, Penny wrapped his arm around Neely’s neck, took him to the ground and put him in a chokehold for about six minutes.
A video that captured several minutes of the encounter, including Gonzalez holding onto Neely’s arms, became a Rorschach test for New Yorkers divided about whether it was ever appropriate for subway riders to take matters into their own hands when someone else on the train posed a risk.
Penny has pleaded not guilty. His attorneys argue that he didn’t mean to kill Neely but rather to restrain him, because he and other subway riders were scared.
Gonzalez is one of two men who appear to be helping Penny to restrain Jordan Neely in the video of the chokehold that went viral after Neely’s death. The other is a German tourist who has refused to testify at trial. Until now, Gonzalez’s identity and involvement in the high-profile case has been a mystery.
Gonzalez said he told the truth after law enforcement showed him evidence that proved he wasn’t on the subway with Neely and Penny, including a surveillance image that showed him walking through a turnstile at the Broadway-Lafayette Street station just before their train arrived. He also said prosecutors agreed not to use his words against him.
But even with this promise, he told jurors, he was scared.
“Of what?” asked Yoran from the DA's office.
“Public persecution,” Gonzalez said, citing the public attention and protests following Neely’s death. “I’m scared for myself. I’m scared for my family.”
‘You can let go’
Gonzalez said he was answering emails on his phone when he walked onto the uptown F train and found two men on the floor. One was holding the other down, with his arm around the man’s neck and legs around his waist.
Gonzalez didn’t know what was happening, he said. But he remembered people frantically yelling for someone to call the police and decided to grab Neely’s arms.
“I jumped in and tried to help,” Gonzalez said.
He added that he waved his hands to catch Penny’s attention.
“I’m going to grab his arms so you can let go,” he recalled saying.
But Penny didn’t let go. Instead, a video shows Penny continuing to restrain Neely in a chokehold as Gonzalez holds onto one of his arms.
Gonzalez said Neely continued to squirm from side to side and at one point broke his grip, so he put his leg over Neely’s arm to keep him secure. He said he grew frustrated as another man on the train told him and Penny to let go, because Neely might die or pass out. Gonzalez said he told the man that Penny wasn’t squeezing Neely’s neck, even though he couldn’t see how tight the hold was.
“I was doing everything possible to basically shut him up,” Gonzalez testified.
Later on Tuesday, an investigative analyst with the DA’s office presented a timeline of the chokehold based on transit records, video timestamps and Neely’s medical records. It showed Penny held Neely for at least 5 minutes and 53 seconds — including almost a minute after Neely’s last voluntary movement.
An emergency medical technician who responded to the scene said his team administered six doses of epinephrine to try to restart Neely’s heart. None were successful.
This story has been updated with additional information.
