Marine vet charged in subway chokehold is Alvin Bragg's 'sacrificial lamb' for the race card: attorney

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Marine vet in subway chokehold incident 'sacrificial lamb' for 'race card': Leo Terrell

Civil Rights attorney Leo Terrell tells 'The Story' it is clear Manhattan prosecutor is pursuing indictment due to 'White-on-Black' dynamic.

The Marine veteran charged by New York County District Attorney Alvin Bragg in connection with the death of a disturbed homeless man with a long rap sheet is prime evidence of the left-wing official's affinity for racialized prosecutions, one civil rights attorney argued Friday.

The indicted veteran, Daniel Penny, initially reported himself to NYPD officers after the chaotic situation on a Queensbound F Train near Broadway-Lafayette station that ultimately left Jordan Neely dead. Neely reportedly became irate without prompting and threw articles of clothing down, leading Penny to apply a chokehold to him.

Los Angeles civil rights attorney Leo Terrell keyed into the fact police let Penny go without charges after he essentially turned himself in, causing an activist uproar and potentially being the impetus for Bragg to independently file charges.

Alvin Bragg, left, said the chokehold death of Jordan Neely will be probed by senior prosecutors. Police are shown investigating after Neely's death May 1, 2023. (Kena Betancur/Getty Images // FNTV)

"The big question …  is why – why the Marine [veteran] and not the other individuals who helped him? I mean, why weren't they charged for anything? They weren't charged at all." Terrell said Friday on "The Story with Martha MacCallum."

Terrell, who is Black, said the "far-left" Bragg saw an opportunity for the "classic ‘we want to play the race card’ situation [as] you can't ignore the fact that this Marine [veteran] is White [and] you can't ignore the fact that the victim is Black."

Terrell said 27 other people have died or been killed this year in the state-run MTA subway system, but have not received the same response from Bragg's office.

Passengers enter the MTA NYCT subway at Union Square in 2019. (Spencer Platt/Getty)

"This is the ugliest of the race card being played. And this Marine is being the sacrificial lamb. And I find it offensive," Terrell added.

Terrell added that activists and leftists seeking to play the race card ignore the fact prosecutions like these happen in cities run by minority mayors. He pointed out how Eric Adams is Black, and other big-city mayors across the country like Karen Bass in Los Angeles and Brandon Johnson – soon-to-be sworn in Chicago – are as well.

"There's a common thread: a Black mayor running these cities. And yet there's a problem with getting these types of mental services to these individuals," he said. "The minority community is being ignored by people who are running the city."

Judge Jeanine Pirro, co-host of "The Five" who served many years as the elected Republican prosecutor in neighboring White Plains, noted that with Bragg bringing charges against Penny when he did, the Marine vet's legal team will uniquely be able to present arguments before the grand jury.

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Typically, she said, grand juries only hear evidence from the prosecution.

She, like Terrell, noted how Penny voluntarily gave a statement to the cops, and wasn't charged until the "huge uproar" appeared to spur Bragg to act.

"Alvin Bragg, as political as they get at this point, decides 'I'm going to file a felony complaint and charge him with murder' when the police didn't think it was appropriate at that point to charge him with murder," she said.